Due to the wool emerging from the furrows, which is initially straw-blond, then darkens and finally grays, the tops of the plants are well protected and usually hidden from view.

These dry out when ripe and release the dull black seeds into the crown wool, from which they are only washed out (in nature) after a long time.

In its natural habitat, the flattened and yellowish form in particular can hardly be recognized as a plant due to its semi-subterranean growth and the jagged warts (mimesis).

[5][6] Ariocarpus fissuratus is widespread in southwest Texas from southeastern Hudspeth County to the Pecos River and in the Mexican states of Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas at elevations around 500 and 1,170 meters.

[9] In cultivation, Ariocarpus fissuratus is often grafted to a faster-growing columnar cactus to speed growth, as they would generally take at least a decade to reach maturity on their own.

[11] According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the cactus is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

[12] Ariocarpus fissuratus is a unique species in that it has been used by Native American tribes as a mind-altering substance, usually only as a substitute for peyote.