The dull-green to blue-green leaves of the variable Aloe verecunda are arranged in the form of a fan on young plants (the arrangement distichous), whilst older plants may develop the common aloe leaf rosette or the leaves even twisting spirally.
The outer surface of the channelled leaf has many wart-like, white spots or tubercles in their lower parts. The margins have small, soft teeth, fairly widely spaced. The leaf sap is clear.
The leaves are sometimes deciduous, dying back in winter. The dry leaves often burn with the winter grass, the plant resprouting from its perennial, subterranean base (Craib, et al, 2005; Van Wyk and Smith, 2003; Jeppe, 1969).