Pencil thin grayish green joints are about 4 inches (10 cm) long with straight, straw-colored spine sheathes to 11⁄2 inches (4 cm) long. There is generally only one spine per areole, which makes this species easy to identify. Newly formed joints are covered with fine hairs.

Found to 5000 feet (1500 m) in flat sandy soils, it can grow to 5 feet (1.5 m). This cactus can be very old with trunk diameters reaching 5 inches (13 cm).

The flowers are smallest of all the Mojave Desert cacti and green when first open but turn yellow to brown. The flowering period is April and May, usually one of the last cacti to flower.