The stems of Erica pannosa have fewer leaves below their tips where the leaves cluster before stem elongation. The soft upper stem parts are lemon yellow in picture, becoming grey and woody lower down as they age.

The narrow, hairy leaves grow in fours or are scattered or spiralling up the stems, mostly spreading to slightly ascending. Leaf shape is oblong to elliptic, the margins rolled under, leaving a pale gap below (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iSpot).