[2] Stenocereus alamosensis is a shrub-like cactus with bluish-green, columnar, and often arched shoots up to 8 cm in diameter, reaching 2–4 meters in height.

The spherical red fruits, typically bare when ripe, have a persistent flower remnant and are 3–4.5 cm in diameter.

It is viviparous (that is, the seeds germinate before leaving the parent plant), apparently an adaptation to living in coastal plains which are prone to flooding.

[5] It was first described as Cereus alamosensis by John Merle Coulter in 1896, with its name referencing its occurrence near the city of Álamos.

[6] The specific epithet, alamosensis, refers to the plant's occurrence at Álamos in the Mexican state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico.