The plant has 3 to 5 straight or occasionally hooked central spines, brownish with dark tips, measuring 6 to 8 mm (0.24 to 0.31 in) long, and 25 to 30 slender, needle-like radial spines, white and 5 to 6 mm (0.20 to 0.24 in) long.

The scarlet red, club-shaped fruits are up to 1.3 cm (0.51 in) long and contain black seeds.

[3] Cochemiea palmeri is native to the Mexican state of Baja California, specifically on the islands of San Benito and Guadalupe from sea level to 300 meters growing along Dudleya linearis and Deinandra streetsii.

[4] Originally described as Cactus palmeri by John Merle Coulter in 1894, the species was named in honor of botanist and archaeologist Edward Palmer.

[5] In 2021, Peter B. Breslin and Lucas C. Majure reclassified it into the genus Cochemiea.