[3] Tylecodon paniculatus is a thickset, robust succulent dwarf tree up to 2.5–3 m tall, with very fat stems with usually well branched rounded crown.

The single main trunk and branches are covered with mustard-yellow to olive-green bark peeling in papery semi-translucent sheets.

Leaves are clustered and spirally arranged around the apex of the growing tips simple during the wintertime; they are paddle-shaped, 5–12 cm long and 2–10 cm wide, thickly succulent, bright yellowish-green; apex is broadly tapering to rounded, base is tapering without petiole.

The species grows in the arid, winter rain-fall regions from Namibia to the southwestern South Africa.

The plant contains bufadienolide-type cardiac glycoside cotyledoside which causes cotyledonosis or nenta poisoning ("krimpsiekte") in sheep and goats.