It is a solitary-stemmed barrel cactus with a globose to short cylindrical shape, and grows to 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and 30 centimeters in diameter, with around 21 tuberous ribs.

It has approximately 10 central spines that are flattened, occasionally curved like a hook, and can grow up to 5 centimeters long.

[3][4] Sometimes recognized is the subspecies grandiflorus, which has orange to red flowers up to 6 cm (2.4 in) long and is native to the Vizcaíno Peninsula of Baja California Sur.

[8][9] This species is found along the Pacific west coast in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, including the offshore islands of Cedros and San Benito.

The type specimen was collected on Cedros Island in 1894[2] and described as Echinocactus chrysacanthus in 1899 by Charles Russell Orcutt, it was later placed in the genus Ferocactus by Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose in 1922.