Discocactus plants are endemic to southern Brazil, eastern Bolivia, and northern Paraguay.

At the apex of the adult plants, there is a wooly cephalium, white or shaded with yellow or grey.

The fragrant, white, funnel- or tray-shaped flowers arise at the edge of the cephalium and open at night.

The spherical to club-shaped to oblong, white to pink to bright red fruits are glabrous and slightly fleshy.

The fruits contain broadly oval to almost spherical, shiny black seeds that are 2 to 2.5 millimeters long.