Cheiridopsis brownii is a dwarf leaf succulent forming compact ground-level clumps or cushions of leaves on short branches. The clumps are from 5 cm to 10 cm in diameter, only two leaf-pairs per stem.

The opposite leaf-pairs are rounded and thick with deep keels, fused for nearly half the leaf length. The leaves are sharp-tipped, the tips and upper margins sometimes faintly red. Leaves are grey-green to grey, even brown while bluish green in cultivation; faint mottling sometimes visible. Sheaths from old leaves cover up to a third of the leaves. The leaves become up to 4 cm long.

The species distribution is the far northwest of the Northern Cape in the Richtersveld from Jakkalsberg to Grootderm, as well as in southwestern Namibia to Lüderitz.

The plants grow in sandy soil, gravel or shale on dolomite flats or quartz ridges. The species is considered to be endangered in its habitat early in the twenty first century due to mining and overgrazing (Frandsen, 2017; Williamson, 2010; iNaturalist; http://llifle.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).