Stems unbranched or branched near base, depressed-spheric, spheric, cylindric, or elongate-cylindric, 4.5-45 × 3.5-14.5 cm; ribs (10-)13(-16), tubercles evident on ribs. Spines frequently obscuring stems; radial spines 8-17 per areole, usually white, sometimes brown or purplish pink, 6-36 mm; central spines (3-)4-6(-8) per areole, 1-5 hooked; abaxial central spine usually purple black, hooked, 15-72 × 0.6-1 mm; lateral spines 2-6 per areole, similar to abaxial, usually shorter, usually not hooked; adaxial central spine usually white (rarely gray, straw colored, pink, or reddish brown), flat to angled or terete; straight (rarely contorted), 17-82(-90) × 0.7-1.5(-3) mm. Flowers funnelform to campanulate, (2-)3-5.7(-7) × 2.5-5.5(-8) cm; outer tepals with greenish or brownish purple midstripes and rose to purple, pink, yellow, or white margins, oblanceolate, 25-50 × 6-10 mm, mucronate, margins entire; inner tepals rose to purple, pink, or yellow (rarely white), oblanceolate, 15-55 × 6-12 mm, margins entire to fringed, apex mucronate; filaments purple, yellow, or green; anthers yellow; ovary papillate, appearing granular. Fruits irregularly dehiscent, green turning reddish pink, 10-30 × 10-15 mm; scales few, membranous fringed. Seeds dark brown to black, 2.5-3.5 × 1.5-3 mm; testa with rounded papillae. Flowering late Apr-May. Sandy, gravelly, or clay hills, mesas, and washes, desert grasslands or saltbush, sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and blackbrush communities, pinyon-juniper woodlands; 1000-2100 m; Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Utah. Sclerocactus parviflorus has an extensive range and great morphologic variation. Many named segregates have been proposed (L. D. Benson 1982; K. D. Heil and J. M. Porter 1994; F. Hochstätter 1995b) and some of these clearly merit recognition at the subspecific or varietal level. However, we are not attempting to subdivide this very complex group. Considerable work remains in understanding morphologic diversification within this species.

Plant: STEMS solitary or clustered, depressed-globose to elongate-cylindrical, 5-27 cm long, 4.5-13 cm diameter; tubercles 1.5-2 cm apart Leaves: SPINES dense, obscuring the stem, the central spines 4(-6), the lower central spine hooked, 1.5-7.2 cm long, 0.6-1 mm wide, white, yellow, brown, reddish-brown, pink to purplish-pink or black, the 2-4 laterals similar to the lower one, usually shorter, usually not hooked; the upper central 1.7-6.2 cm long, 0.7-1.5(-3) mm wide, mostly white, rarely gray, straw-yellow, pink, or reddish-brown, flat, rhombic or rounded in cross-section, rarely contorted; radial spines 3-17, 0.6-3.6 cm long, mostly white, but may be brown or purplish-pink Flowers: 3-5.7 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm in diameter; ovary granular-papillose; outer tepals oblanceolate, 2.5-4.5 cm long, 6-10 mm broad, with greenish or brownish-purple midribs and rose to purple, pink, yellow or white entire margins, mucronate; inner tepals oblanceolate, 1.5-5 cm long, 6-12 mm broad, rose to purple, pink, yellow or rarely white, mucronate; filaments purple, yellow, or green; style papillose, green or pink to purple; stigma lobes 5-10, purple or green Fruit: FRUITS 1-2.5 cm long, 1-1.5 cm diameter, green turning reddish-pink, with a few membranous-fringed scales. SEEDS 1.5-3 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm diameter, 1 mm thick, dark brown to black, covered by evenly spaced papillae Misc: May-Jun REFERENCES: Heil, Kenneth D., and Mark J. Porter. 2001. Cactaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 33(1).