Pachypodium saundersii is a succulent shrub with a conspicuously large stem. This plant may grow to 1,5 m in height. The presence of the fierce looking spines helps to distinguish it from some Adenium species.

The species distribution is in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, as well as in KwaZulu-Natal and in some neighbouring countries including Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Letty, 1962; Manning, 2009; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982; http://redlist.sanbi.org).