Dark green stems growing erect, up to 3-4 meters tall, 8-10 cm in diameter.
  [Said by Australian growers to commonly reach between 4-5 inches in diameter at maturity].
  Columns may be simple or else branching near the ground.
  “Impressive columnar cactus” (HEWITT), to 8 feet (2.4m) tall with spread of 3 feet (90 cm) (HEWITT), can reach over 3 meters in height and up to 15 cm in diameter (COLLECTORS CORNER).
  Dull green (RB) to dark green (TROUT) epidermis is thick & matte (HEWITT).
  Not glaucous; surface is rougher than T. pachanoi overall (except at growing tip) RB.
NMCR material grown from FR991 seeds showed glaucous patterns only at transition between recent and older growth. (TROUT)
  Under a 10X loupe the skin can be seen to be coarsely grainy (larger grains and wider spacing) in contrast to the fine & closely packed grains observable on T. pachanoi skin. (TROUT)
  The Mature plants have 4-6 ribs; usually 5. Branches showing more than 5 ribs will normally lose a rib as they grow.
  The ribs are up 3-4 cm across, broadly rounded and blunt, somewhat arched on the flanks; almost without indentations. While scopulicola lacks indentations or grooves above the areoles (causing the edges to have a smoother profile than T. pachanoi), it can develop sloping depressions under the areoles with age. (Snu VOOGELBREINDER; pers. comm.. 2000) The degree of bluntness to the ribs is said to be variable depending on watering according to VOOGELBREINDER.
  Branch tips are more club shaped than T. pachanoi. (RB)
  The grooves between the ribs are straight & even (RITTER), deep (HEWITT) & more indented than T. pachanoi (RB)
  The areoles are rounded to oval, low and somewhat sunken, with a little white felt. They are 1-3 mm long, 1 mm wide and set from 15 to almost 30 mm apart.
  Flowering areoles are circular and larger: around 4-5 mm in diameter.
  Larger plants can have approximately 3-5 spines per areole but they may be absent. Spines are brown, awl-like and only 1 mm long.
  [Spines are barely visible & nearly indistinguishable from those of T. pachanoi: RB (this is rather common on stock encountered in the US]

  Seedlings have 6-7 ribs with areoles from 1 to over 1.5 mm in diameter; set 3-5 mm apart. The areoles have 7-13 whitish or brownish spines, of which 1-2 are placed as centrals. Their 2-5 mm long spines are needle-shaped and whitish or brownish.

  Flowers are usually borne near the apex; sometimes lower. They are 16-20 cm long (Ritter)
  The flower is around 15 cm. (COLLECTORS CORNER )
  [white] flowers open up to 10 inches (25 cm) across (HEWITT); nocturnal flowers in summer.
  Flowers are white & fragrant; opening at night and remaining open during the cooler hours of the morning. (RITTER)
  Ovary is green, bearing many bracts with large podaria approx. 1 cm in diameter, upwardly running into 1-2 mm long greenish triangular scales, the axils bearing white woolly hairs, in addition there are black hairs above.
  The nectar chamber is brownish-white; surrounding the style very closely. It is around 2 cm in length and contains nectar.
  Floral tube is almost funnel-shaped; 6.5-8.5 cm long with the superior portion around 3 cm wide. It is light green inside and out. The scales are up to approximately 25 mm long and 15 mm wide. (Arranged in increasing size) Scales are green; the transition where passing into the calyx is reddish-brown.
There is also the presence of black with white frizzy-woolly hairs.
  Stamens are pale green lower and upwardly yellowish. They are 7-9 cm long (those of the hymen are 4-5 cm). They are inserted on a distance of approximately 4 cm.
  Anthers are brownish.
  The style is pale-green, 14-18 cm in length. Of this length, approximately 2 cm contains the 12 light-yellow & spreading stigma lobes.
  White petals are 6-8 cm long x 2.5-4 cm wide. The base is narrow; their tips are rounded, with or without small points. The upper portion is wider than the lower.
  Sepals are not as wide. They are white with a green mid-stripe.