The specific name derives from Walter Rausch, who discovered it in the early 1960s. It is a globular cactus of a light green color, which reaches a considerable size. It is characterized by long central hooked spines, very accentuated and robust, of a honey-yellow color, that sometimes fades towards brown, beautifully contrasting with the white down, that covers the apex. The radial spines are instead, as typical of all Parodies, thinner and adjacent to the body. During the flowering season, characteristic flowers with shiny and thin petals bloom, typically in shades of orange or pink-peach.