The small, hairy leaves of Erica lanata are arranged in four vertical arrays or imbricate up younger stems, growing in spaced whorls of four. They are narrow with margins rolled under and ascending while slightly spreading on the stems to pointed tips. The hairs are longest along the margins.

The leaves are bright green to dark green, while yellow-green in new growth. They are sometimes whitish below and on the margins from hairiness (Moriarty, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; JSTOR).