Segment structure
Segments have a light brown, tuberculate surface and areoles without dense wool. Central spines are flattened, with a range of 10–30 mm given in the species comparison. Flowers are terminal. The thickened underground part reflects the genus's geophytic structure. [Las Peñas and Bernardello 2021, Table 2]
In the microscopic surface study, the cuticle had faint, irregular striations. Stomatal frequency and papilla shape differed among the species described. Observations came from preparations of fresh and fixed material, which matters when assessing surface waxes. [Faigón et al. 2011]
Sites and chromosomes
Material for the 2021 study included specimens from Mendoza and Neuquén. The species was described as associated with southern Monte. In the DNA analysis it formed an early-diverging lineage in the group also containing P. reticulatus, P. valentini and P. tuberosus. [Las Peñas and Bernardello 2021]
The counted chromosome number was recorded as approximately 2n = 110. This corresponds to about ten basic sets at x = 11. The approximation is part of the source result and has therefore not been converted into an exact number for all plants of this species. [Las Peñas and Bernardello 2021, Table 1]