It has a wide range of distribution from the Arabian Peninsula and the Syrian Desert in the east, through the Sahara, Cyprus, Crete and the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, to Macaronesia in the west.

Cistanche phelypaea is a chlorophyll-free, obligate parasitic plant with stout fleshy flowering stems bearing bright yellow flowers and rising to 20–50 cm (7.9–19.7 in) tall from a generally swollen base.

Flower crown is broadly campanulate-obconic, strongly curved, bright yellow, sometimes light purple, and glabrous.

[1] Cistanche phelypaea inhabits saline, sandy, mainly coastal zones but also inland sites from sea level up to 600 m (2,000 ft) altitude.

In West Asia it occupies Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Soqotra; in Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Chad, Libya, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Western Sahara, Morocco; in Southern Europe, Cyprus, Crete, Spain, Portugal; in Macaronesia, Cape Verde, Canary Islands, Savage Islands and Madeira.