The plant's stems, which range between red, green and purple, are delicately hirsute when juvenile, though they'd become glabrescent as they get older.

Its vanilla-coloured, pom-pom flowers are ordered in compact clusters (7–20 mm long) in the top leaf branching and are small in shape.

[5] Its very small brown fruit (1.5–2 mm long) contains one seed that's generally hidden within the older flower parts.

[3] The plant is native to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas, Nicaragua, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, northeastern Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, and the Windward Islands.

[3] Most species of joyweed, including this one, are considered as environmental weeds in Queensland, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia.