This Brazilian species is easily distinguished from all others of this genus by its rough epidermis, while the subsp. quadricostatus has fewer ribs, either four (as the epithet implies) or five. These are lined with cinnamon-colored wool near the flowering tips which are often broadened giving the stems the appearance of hairy clubs. Subsp. flocossus may also have five (or up to eight) ribs, but the two subspecies are geographically separated. The typical subspecies occurs mainly on limestone at 600 – 850 m, while subsp. quadricostatus occurs on gneiss at 250 – 800 m. We offer rooted cuts of several clones of HBG 66127, grown from seed collected in 1989 by Dieter Suphthut, then Director of the Zurich State Succulent Collection (Zurich Sukkulenten Samlung, ZSS), in the dry state of Bahia, Brazil, along BR 242, 4 km W of Argoim. $10.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 91 (2), Summer 2019