[2] Silver cholla is a large, shrub to tree-like cactus which may exceed 0.5 to 2 m (1.6 to 6.6 ft) in height.

The width of the tubercles is less than twice the length, which helps to distinguish it from buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa), which occurs in a similar geographical distribution.

The fruit is lumpy, spiny, and tan in color, with white seeds and a foul scent, reminiscent of rancid butter.

[4][5] Cylindropuntia echinocarpa is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico in the states of Baja California and Sonora, where it can be found the Sonoran Desert, the Mojave Desert, and Colorado Desert in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona in semi-desert, grassland and forestland at altitudes of 50 to 1700 meters.

[3] The first description as Opuntia echinocarpa by George Engelmann and John Milton Bigelow was published in 1856.