[2] Common hybrids include C. forbesii 'Ming Thing' (a monstrose form) and 'Spiralis', with its vertically spiraling growth habit.

The cylindrical, glaucoma shoots are initially blue-green and later turn light green, with a diameter of 5 to 8 centimeters.

The (mostly singular) central spine, which occasionally forms two or three, is strong, yellowish-brown and up to 16 centimetres (6.3 inches) long.

It is endemic to the Argentine provinces of Catamarca, Chaco, Córdoba, Formosa, Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero and Tucumán, and north of the city of San Luís.

It grows atop arid, windswept hills, within sparse forests, wooded plains, and also on the edges of salt flats, often an elevation of 500–2,000 m (1,600–6,600 ft).