It has a cylindrical and fleshy stem with fragile succulent twigs that are 7 millimetres (0.28 in) thick, often produced in whorls, finely striated longitudinally.

It may also be native in other parts of the continent as well as some surrounding islands and the Arabian Peninsula and has been introduced to many other tropical regions, such as Brazil, India, Vietnam, the Philippines and Ghana.

Attempts have been made to use it to treat cancer, excrescence, tumors, warts, asthma, cough, earache, neuralgia, rheumatism, and toothaches in countries including Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

This led chemist Melvin Calvin to propose the exploitation of E. tirucalli for producing oil.

In the 1980s the Brazilian national petroleum company Petrobras began experiments based on these ideas.