Small plants of Peru, first ball-shaped then short columnar up to 50 cm tall. Very dense black-gray spination and blood-red flowers make them very attractive plants but unfortunately they are rather rare in collections. A few bored botanists moved Arequipa into the genus Oreocereus which is not at least strange. They grow slowly, do not like to be repotted too often, do not like too much water, flowers can be seen only occasionally. Better kept outside than in the greenhouse.