The brown-flowered cactus has a dense covering of short, reddish brown spines making it look somewhat similar to the
Texas rainbow cactus, but is distinguished by its small reddish flowers that grow from multiple points lower down the stem, unlike the rainbow cactus that has large yellow flowers near the growing tip. Echinocereus chloranthus is usually solitary but may form small groups, and is quite common in most regions of Big Bend National Park, up to 6,000 feet.