Coyote brush is a wiry and woody perennial evergreen that looks like a bush. One of the tricks Coyote brush uses is to take on a different shape depending on where it lives. Shaped by salt spray and winds, it hugs low to the ground and forms a ground cover on dunes, ridges and plains. In protected places, like moist canyons and northwest slopes, it grows into tall, erect to mounded shrubs.

Its numerous small and stiff grey-green leaves are jagged on the edges. Egg-shaped and from 0.5-1.0 inch long, the leaves have a waxy coating that reduces the amount of moisture lost to evaporation into the air. Best of all, the leaves are fire-retardant, meaning that they have a chemical makeup that reduces their ability to catch on fire. These evergreen leaves tend to crown the upper branches of Coyote brush. The leaves become fragrant and sticky with resinous oils on hot summer days. These oils are unappetizing and may protect the plant from being eaten.