This is a shrub of moderate to large size, sprawling to maximum heights over 4 m (13 ft).

It is entirely green while growing and is made up of tangling straight stems which branch many times.

The tip of each rigid stem branch tapers into a long, sharp spine.

The fruits are shiny black berries each a few millimeters long; they are attractive to birds.

In the west it ranges into the southern, and central Sonoran Desert of Sonora, and southern and southwestern Arizona; it also ranges into three areas of Baja California Sur-(part of the Sonoran Desert).