This is a small round cactus growing to a maximum height of about 15 cm (6 in), often remaining smaller and oblong or spherical.

It is densely covered in a mat of star-shaped arrays of straight white spines 1 to 2.5 cm (3⁄8 to 1 in) long.

[7] Varieties include:[8] The species has a broad range across the western interior of North America, from northern Mexico to the Canadian prairies.

From pollen core data, a portion of the prehistoric distribution of this species has been mapped; for example in the Late Wisconsin period, Pelecyphora vivipara occurred in the Waterman Mountains (Coconino County) of northern Arizona, (the Waterman Mountains are in SE Arizona), although the species does not occur in this location in the present time.

[6] It consists of one population in two counties, that in the past was recorded by Lycurgus Moyer, who found it in 1898, as "quite abundant", but because of habitat loss due to farming and quarrying, its numbers have declined.

[6] Notably, Pelecyphora vivipara is one of only four cactus species native to Canada, growing in the southern prairies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba.

[14] David Aquino & Daniel Sánchez moved the species to Pelecyphora based on phylogenetic studies in 2022.