Stetsonia coryne is native to arid regions of South America, where it grows to a height of 15 to 25 ft (4.6 to 7.6 m) tall.

[2] The plant is large, with tree-like growth, and can reach a height of 5 to 8 m up to 12 m. The trunk is thick and short, measuring about 40 cm in diameter, with numerous erect or somewhat bent branches.

[5] Nathaniel Lord Britton and Joseph Nelson Rose placed the species in their newly established monotypic genus Stetsonia in 1920.

The genus was named to honor Francis Lynde Stetson, a New York attorney and plant lover.

[7] Stetsonia coryne is distributed in high-altitude arid regions, such as the deserts and dry forest (Gran Chaco) of northwestern Argentina, as well as in Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul.