Plant structure
In the morphological comparison, the species has fibrous roots, globose segments and seasonally shed leaves. Segments are armed with needle-like spines, and their connections have intermediate strength. This arrangement differs from the geophytic clumps of T. bonnieae and the elongated stems of T. aulacothele. [Las Peñas et al. 2019, appendix 1]
Flowers fall in the pale white-pink colour group used in the trait matrix. The stem-derived part of the flower has spines, and sepals have sharp, elongated tips. Mature fruit is dry and dehiscent. The seed covering has a corky structure. [Las Peñas et al. 2019]
Material from San Juan
Specimens analysed cytogenetically and molecularly came from San Juan province. The material studied had 2n = 22. In the chloroplast tree, the species belonged to the group containing T. alexanderi, T. geometricus, T. articulatus and T. aoracanthus. [Las Peñas et al. 2019, table 2 and appendix 2]
Current POWO accepts T. halophilus as a separate species. Older name combinations are linked to this record in the search tool. Retaining the origin of particular material allows a collection plant to be compared with the specimens described and avoids extending one population's result to all similarly identified specimens. [2-WWW] [Las Peñas et al. 2019]
Synonyms and names in the literature
Opuntia halophila · Tephrocactus ovatus subsp. halophilus [2-WWW]