[2] Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus grows as a shrub with branched, arched to creeping shoots at the base and reaches heights of growth of up to 1 meter with a diameter of 2 to 3 centimeters.

The tubular, straight flowers are erect and 4 to 5 centimeters long.

Cleistocactus smaragdiflorus is found in the Bolivian department of Tarija and the Argentine provinces of Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán and Catamarca at altitudes of 300 to 1500 meters.

The first description as Cereus smaragdiflorus was in 1894 by Frédéric Albert Constantin Weber.

[3] Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed them in the genus Cleistocactus in 1920.