Browningia amstutziae grows tree-shaped and reaches heights of up to 5 meters.

The eight to ten flexible marginal spines are up to 1 centimeter long.

[1] Browningia amstutziae is common in the Peruvian regions of Pasco and Junín in moist cloud and fog forests on steep cliffs at low altitudes.

The first description as Gymnocereus amstutziae was made in 1958 by Werner Rauh and Curt Backeberg.

The specific epithet amstutziae honors the botanist Erika Amstutz, who worked in Oroya, Peru for several years and who discovered the species.