[2] Thelocactus hexaedrophorus is endemic to the limestone slopes in the Chihuahuan Desert, savanna, and grasslands of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Tamaulipas, and Nuevo León, Mexico at elevations between 1100 and 2000 meters.

knuthianus , Coryphantha maiz-tablasensis, Astrophytum myriostigma, Echinocactus platyacanthus, Echinocereus enneacanthus var.

carnosus, Coryphantha cornifera, Ferocactus latispinus, Echinocereus pectinatus, Echinocereus cinerascens, Opuntia rastrera, Opuntia lindheimeri, Cylindropuntia imbricata, Myrtillocactus geometrizans, Polaskia chende, Agave salmiana, Yucca filifera, Jatropha dioica and Fritillaria affinis.

[3] The plant was first described as Echinocactus hexaedrophorus by Charles Lemaire in 1839,[4] and later placed in the genus Thelocactus by Britton and Rose in 1922.

[5] The specific epithet hexaedrophorus is derived from the Greek words hexa- for 'six', hedra for 'level' and -phoros for 'bearing' and refers to hexagonal warts of the species.