Euphorbia cylindrifolia ssp. tuberifera looks a lot like the standard E. cylindrifolia subsp. cylindrifolia but never spreads by means of stolons, all the other characteristics are identical, namely size and form of branches and leaves, size and colour of flowers, size of caudex etc. It is a dwarf, low-growing cushion-forming succulent with a rosette of narrow, serpent-like stems arising from a short, central subterranean caudex. Among the the Madagascan euphorbias species this is perhaps the most caudiciform. Subspecies tuberifera, when grown from seed, forms a conspicuous rounded tuber that can grow to fist-size or larger, but this is rarely observed in cultivation as that subspecies is easily propagated from cuttings, which only form fibrous roots. Both subspecies display the distinctive, narrow, cylindrical, slightly curved leaves channeled on the upper surface.