It is endemic to a small area of the coastal mountains of south-eastern Brazil where its natural habitat is moist forest.

The stems (cladodes) are composed of strongly flattened segments, which have "teeth" of varying shapes along their edges, where there are generally two to three, and at the ends.

The species can be in flower up to three times a year (August, November and March in cultivation in the Northern Hemisphere).

If the flower is fertilized, a fleshy fruit forms which is greenish yellow to cream with five or six ribs.

[1] The species was discovered in the wild by Countess Orssich (hence the specific epithet orssichiana) and cultivated in her garden in Brazil, from where specimens were sent to Europe.

[2][3] S. orssichiana occurs only in the coastal mountains of south-east Brazil, in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in the southernmost part of the tropics.