The tubular to narrow bell-shaped, light pink flowers appear near the top of the shoot and open at night.

Stenocereus stellatus is widespread in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla and Oaxaca at altitudes of 500 to 2,200 meters growing in limestone and sandstone soils in thorn-scrub and tropical dry forests.

Plants grow along with Ceiba aesculifolia, Parkinsonia praecox, Ipomoea arborescens, Ipomoea murucoides, Fouquieria formosa, Neltuma laevigata, Lippia origanoides, Lophocereus marginatus, Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Myrtillocactus schenckii, Polaskia chichipe, Polaskia chende, Stenocereus pruinosus, Escontria chiotilla, Pachycereus weberi, Lemaireocereus hollianus, Isolatocereus dumortieri, and Stenocereus treleasei.

Plants are pollinated by bats such as Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, L. nivalis, Choeronycteris mexicana, Glossophaga soricina, and Artibeus jamaicensis; bees such as Xylocopa mexicanorum, Bombus pensylvanicus, and Plebeia mexicana; and hummingbirds such as Amazilia violiceps, Phaeoptila sordida, and Cynanthus latirostris.

[5] The specific epithet stellatus comes from Latin, means 'star-shaped' and refers to the arrangement of the thorns on the areoles of the species.