Plants 0.5-2.5 m; young thorns puberulent; mature thorns 30-80 mm, 0.7-2 mm at base (20+ times longer than base width). Flowers: petals 3-4 mm; style 0.8-1.4 mm, distally bent, curved or hooked when dried; gynophore (stipe) 0.4-0.8 mm. Flowering Feb-May. Brushlands, gullies, hillsides and flats; 0-2100 m; Tex.; Mexico (Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas).