Peebles Navajo cactus, Navajo pincushion cactus

Navajoa peeblesiana Croizat, Cact. Succ. J. (Los Angeles) 15: 89, fig. 42. 1943; Utahia peeblesianas (Croizat) Kladiwa

Plants branched or unbranched. Stems gray-green, obovoid, globose or depressed-globose, 2-6.5 × 1.5-5.5 cm; areoles circular, lanulose. Spines soft and corky or spongy, harder at tips, white to pale gray, all radial or with 1 central and sometimes 0-1 intermediate spines per areole; radial spines 3-7 per areole, 2-9 × 0.5-1 mm; intermediate spines curved upward, 8-21 × 0.7-1.5 mm; central spine, when present, 5-18 × 1 mm. Flowers 1-1.4 × 1.5-2.5 cm; scales and outer tepals minutely toothed or denticulate or entire and undulate; outer tepals with brown-purple midstripes, oblanceolate, 5-13 × 2-4.5 mm; inner tepals cream, yellow, or yellowish green, lanceolate, 6-12(-15) mm. Fruits green, drying reddish brown, turbinate, 6-11 × 5-8 mm. Seeds dark brown to black, 3 × 2 mm, papillate and rugose.

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora): Arizona.