It is a perennial dwarf shrub species that is able to grow within a wide range of habtiats. These include sand sheets and rocky headlands along the coast (Brown et al. 2007, Böer and Saenger 2006), in addition to coralline sands, limestone slopes and mountain terraces (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019). This species grows as a prickly shrub of up to 60 cm in height and flowers between October and December (Karim and Dakheel 2006). It is also considered to be a halophyte, salt-tolerant, species (Karim and Dakheel 2006). Cistanche tubulosa uses this species as a host plant (Brown et al. 2007). Cornulaca monacantha is generally an unpalatable species, which helps to protect it from grazers.