There are 15-18 low, rounded ribs divided by sharp indentations into indistinct protuberances.

The straight or slightly curved, crooked, scarlet flowers are 4 to 9.5 inches long.

[3] There are two recognized subspecies:[2] Loxanthocereus acanthurus is distributed in the Peruvian regions of Ancash, Lima and Ica at altitudes of 300 to 2500 meters.

The first description as Cereus acanthurus was in 1913 by Friedrich Karl Johann Vaupel.

The specific epithet acanthurus is derived from the Greek words akanthos for 'thorn' and oura for 'tail' and refers to the dense spines on the shoots of the species.