Plants belonging to this subspecies occur fairly widespread in northeast Uganda and northwest Kenya in sandy rocky soils, usually in the open at altitudes between 1075 and 1850 m.
They have a thick fleshy root with densely tufted, more or less round branches, which are 5-8 mm thick and erect to 15 cm tall or creeping to 50 (-100) cm long.
The branches bear tubercles to 2 cm apart in 4 series, with triangular spine shields 6 x 1.5 mm in size and spines 5-15 mm long; they differ considerably in colouring, from bright green often with darker longitudinal stripes to greyish-green with purplish stripes.
Cultivated plant