It has thick, somewhat succulent grey-green rush-like shoots with very sparse small deciduous leaves 1 to 3 cm (1⁄2 to 1+1⁄4 in) long and up to 4 millimetres (1⁄8 in) broad.

[7] The Latin specific epithet junceum means "rush-like", referring to the shoots, which show a passing resemblance to those of the rush genus Juncus.

[8] This species is native to the Mediterranean in southern Europe, southwest Asia and northwest Africa,[9] where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils.

Spartium junceum has been widely introduced into other areas, and is regarded as a noxious invasive species in places with a Mediterranean climate such as California and Oregon, Hawaii, central Chile, southeastern Australia,[10] the Western Cape in South Africa and the Canary Islands and Azores.

[18] In work carried out on normoglycemic mice at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of the Republic of Uruguay, the infusion of the flowers were proven to have hypoglycemiant effects.

[20][21] Spartium junceum has made its way into the ethnobotany of the indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures, in which it is believed to protect against evil, probably influenced by similar traditions of Hispanic origin.

[22] The Peruvian huayno, Flor de Retama, written by Ricardo Dolorier in 1969, references the yellow flower and the Huanta massacre which occurred that year.