Adenia fruticosa subsp. fruticosa is a deciduous, climbing shrub or shrubby tree with a large, swollen caudex that grows up to 2 m tall, and climbing stems up to 6 m long. The stems climb by means of tendrils. The grey-green leaves are compound, 25–40 mm long and 15–35 mm wide, with 3 to 5 leaflets. The leaflets are rounded, ovate to obovate, hairless, smooth, with a wax-like texture on the surface.

The male and female flowers are borne on different plants. Male flowers are greenish, ranging from 13–15 mm long and 4.0–4.5 mm wide. Female flowers are characterised by a dull salmon to greenish colour, and are about 7–8 mm long and 2.0–3.5 mm wide. The seeds are enclosed inside a 3-segmented, rounded fruit capsule, 10–20 mm long and 8–15 mm in diameter, that turns orange when ripe. It flowers in early spring (August to September) and fruits in early summer (October to November).

Adenia fruticosa is split into 3 subspecies: the type subsp. fruticosa, subsp. trifoliolata and subsp. simplicifolia. They can be distinguished by geographical distribution: subsp. fruticosa occurs in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, subsp. simplicifolia occurs in Limpopo and in Zimbabwe and Botswana, and subsp. trifoliolata occurs in KwaZulu-Natal.