Echinocereus stolonifer typically forms colonies with numerous shoots branching below the soil surface.

They have eleven to sixteen low ribs that are slightly tuberculated.

The eight to thirteen gray or whitish radial spines lie on the surface and can grow up to 1.5 centimeters long.

[2] There are two recognized subspecies:[3] Echinocereus stolonifer is found in open forests in the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa.

First described by William Taylor Marshall in 1938, the specific epithet "stolonifer" comes from the Latin "stoloniferus," meaning "producing runners," which refers to the species' growth habit.