The blue-green (glaucous) to dull green or grey stems of Huernia stapelioides are four-angled. They have triangular, sharply pointed teeth, flattened on their sides, up the stem ridges. The hairless stems become about 1,5 cm thick. Stem surfaces between the ridges are flat to concave or channelled (Hardy and Fabian, 1992; White and Sloane, 1937).