[2] Echinocereus leucanthus branches out from the base and grows with cylindrical, slender light to dark green shoots that reach a diameter of 3 millimeters to 6 millimeters.

The basally tapered shoots, which in the natural location are supported by adjacent vegetation, arise from a large tuberous root and grow up to 30 centimeters high.

2 to 3, sometimes more, blackish central spines are formed per areole, which are less than 1 millimeter long.

[3] Echinocereus leucanthus is distributed at low altitudes in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora.

The specific epithet leucanthus is derived from the Greek words leukos for 'white' and anthos for 'flower'.