The flowers are orchid to rose purple and appear from March to April, and mature into oval fruits that are pink to yellow.

[4] Undescribed Plants sometimes assigned to Ferocactus chrysacanthus from Isla Natividad, which is located midway between the F. c. ssp.

chrysacanthus on Cedros Island and the subspecies grandiflorus of the Vizcaíno Peninsula, are in fact Ferocactus fordii because of their distinctly purple flowers.

[11][12] Ferocactus fordii is endemic to the Baja California Peninsula and its two constituent states in Mexico, and is found along the Pacific Coast.

It occurs from the vicinity of San Quintín, Baja California to the town of Guerrero Negro on the Vizcaíno Peninsula of far northern Baja California Sur, and is also on Isla San Martín and Isla Natividad.