Borzicactus icosagonus grows as a shrub with prostrate to creeping or ascending shoots and forms large, low piles.

The spherical, green to yellow fruits reach a diameter of 2 to 4 centimeters and are often covered with a few hairs.

Borzicactus icosagonus is widespread in the Ecuadorian provinces of Azuay and Loja and in the Peruvian Piura region at altitudes of 1000 to 3000 meters.

[4] The specific epithet icosagonus is derived from the Greek words eikosi for 'twenty' and gonia for 'edge' and refers to the originally observed number of ribs of the species.

Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in the genus Borzicactus in 1920.