From the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this medusoid species has a thick spherical, flattened main stem with many stiff spineless branches. The branches tend to have blunt tubercles, which is one way to recognize this species when compared with E. esculenta. The cyathia are white and fragrant. We‘ve grown this species in the ground in Tucson for several years, where it has withstood winter lows of 23F. These plants are seedlings in 2-inch pots.