Stem-tip leaf clusters of the loosely branched Lasiosiphon deserticola shrub tends to be quite short. Leaf margins may appear whitish from the fine, short hairs sometimes present. The thickish blades are rarely quite flat, their tips pointed but not always very clearly. The leaves are stalkless.

Old dark bark becomes fissure and peels in parts from the woody stems, revealing a pale new bark or underbark layer. This leaves the stem surfaces somewhat rough, more so where leaves had dropped off earlier.

Even the short, bare stem parts of side-branchlets visible below the leaves are thickish (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; iNaturalist).