Species: Grayia spinosa

Spiny Hopsage is a rounded, profusely branched shrub that is up to 15 dm high and has erect or spreading, gray-barked, spine-tipped stems. The fleshy, broadly lance-shaped leaves are 10-25 mm long and have entire margins and a short stalk. Foliage is covered with small, star-shaped hairs that easily rub off. Male flowers are on different plants than females flowers, making the plant dioecious. There are 2-5 small, green, sessile male flowers that are 1-2 mm long with a 4-lobed calyx, 4 stamens, and no petals; they occur in the axils of the smaller upper leaves, or bracts. Female flowers are arranged in small spikes in the upper leaf axils. Each flower has an ovary surrounded by 2 green, nearly circular bracts. When mature, the bracts enlarge to be 8-15 mm wide; they are pale to red with thin margins.