[2]: 90 Echinocereus fasciculatus forms loose groups consisting of five to 20 shoots.

The two to four straight, light-colored central spines have a darker tip and are 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters long.

The eleven to 13 spreading, straight, whitish or grayish marginal spines are 1.2 to 2 centimeters long.

The first description as Mammillaria fasciculata by Benjamin Daydon Jackson was published in 1895.

[4] The epithet fasciculatus comes from Latin, means 'densely packed together' and refers to the cluster-forming reed-like shoots of the species.