Cephalocereus scoparius grows tree-shaped and candelabra-like with richly branched, ascending shoots that are 8 to 15 centimeters in diameter.

Its pericarpel and flower tube are covered with large tubercles and scales that later fall off.

[2] Cephalocereus scoparius is distributed in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Veracruz.

[3] The specific epithet scoparius comes from Latin, means 'broom-like' and refers to the species' thorns.

Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in the genus Cephalocereus in 1909.