These cacti show a columnar and upright growth habit, and may be branched or unbranched reaching heights of 10 to 12 meters.

The light green shoots, which turn gray with age, have a diameter of up to 40 centimeters and are almost completely covered by dense thorns near the top.

The flowers are medium-sized, tubular to bell-shaped, borne in a woolly structure called cephalium which can appear apically or laterally and open at night.

[1] As of October 2023[update], Plants of the World Online accepted the following species:[1] This genus of cacti is native to central and southern Mexico.

Its habitat is desert scrub in the Central Mexican matorral and Southern Pacific dry forests.