 He came across them as he ascended Mount Abundance near present-day Roma, remarking that "The trunk bulged out in the middle like a barrel, to nearly twice the diameter at the ground, or of that at the first springing of the branches above.These were small in proportion to their great girth, and the whole tree looked very odd In the same publication, English botanist John Lindley provided the first formal description.Lindley placed it in the genus "Delabechea" as the sole representative—"Delabechea rupestris".