The lance-shaped leaves of Arctotis acaulis grow in a tuft of long fleshy stalks from the plant base, the tuberous rootstock. The lower leaf parts are irregularly, sometimes deeply lobed to near the midrib, the lobes reducing in size towards the leaf base.

The upper leaf part is rounded to tapering, the tip indifferently pointed. Leaf surfaces are roughly hairy above and grey woolly or velvety below (Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; http://pza.sanbi.org).