It has 12 to 23 blunt ribs with dense, elliptical, white felted areoles about 3 mm (0.12 in) long.

The 12 to 30 radial spines are comb-shaped, slightly bent back, 5 to 15 mm (0.20 to 0.59 in) long, and tinted whitish to pink.

[2] There are three accepted subspecies: Found in the Mexican states of Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas, and in the south-western US (New Mexico and Texas) at elevations of 400 to 1900 meters.

[3][4] First described in 1838 by Michael Joseph François Scheidweiler as Echinocactus pectinatus, the species was reclassified by George Engelmann into the genus Echinocereus in 1848.

[5][6] The specific epithet "pectinatus," meaning "combed" in Latin, refers to the arrangement of the thorns.