Ferocactus echidne is a small to medium-sized cactus that grows alone or in clusters.

The plant has 13 to 21 sharp, ribbed ridges without tubercles.

Its fruits are spherical to egg-shaped, light green or white with pinkish or red hues, fleshy, and growing up to 2 cm (0.79 in) long.

Ferocactus echidna grows in limestone soil in the bushlands and tropical forests at elevations of 300 to 1860 meters in Mexico's Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Queretaro, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and Guanajuato states.

In 1922, Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose reclassified this species under the genus Ferocactus.