[2] Despite its slow growth, often taking ten years to reach flowering age, the retusus is a desirable cactus for cultivation, having attractive flowers and an unusual form for a cactus.

The erect, spreading warts protrude from the soil, crowded at the base, and are somewhat pointed or sharp-tipped with rounded or flat tops.

[4] Ariocarpus retusus is found in Mexico, from the states of Coahuila and Nuevo León south along both sides of the Sierra Madre Occidental to San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas in the high Chihuahuan desert at elevations between 1300 and 2000 meters.

[5] This species was first described in 1838 by Michael Joseph François Scheidweiler, the specific epithet "retusus" comes from Latin, meaning 'blunted,' referring to the shape of the warts.

[6] Hordenine, N-methyltyramine, N-methyl-3,4-dimethoxy-β-phenethylamine and N-methyl-4-methoxy-β-phenethylamine[7] as well as the flavonol retusin has been found in Ariocarpus retusus.