Perennial, dioecious, strongly branched shrub up to 1 m tall and 15(–40) m in diameter, with a very long, woody taproot; stem longitudinally grooved, pale yellowish to pale green, spiny; spines in pairs, 2–3 cm long. Leaves reduced to minute scales, apparently absent. Flowers unisexual, regular, 5-merous, sessile or shortly stalked in spine axils; calyx campanulate, with ovate lobes, greyish hairy; corolla deeply lobed, lobes broadly ovate, c. 1 cm long, fleshy, pale yellow or pale green; male flowers solitary or fasciculate, with 3–5 stamens; female flowers solitary, with 5 elongate staminodes and inferior, ovoid ovary densely covered with oblong-conical, 2–2.5 mm long, soft spines, style columnar, with 3–5 two-horned flat or capitate stigmas. Fruit a subglobose berry up to 20 cm in diameter, covered with spiny protuberances, ripening from green to pale yellow or pale orange-yellow, many-seeded. Seeds embedded in yellow to orange-yellow pulp, oblong or ovoid, 12–16 mm × 7–11 mm × 5–7 mm, cream-coloured, hard with a thick testa.

Emollient (seed oil)

PROTAbase:Acanthosicyos horridus

The roots are either chewed or made into a decoction, they are used to treat nausea, stomach-ache, venereal diseases, kidney problems, arteriosclerosis and chest pains. The crushed root mixed with fat is used to heal wounds. Oil from the raw or boiled seeds is used as a skin moisturizer and to protect the skin from sunburn.