Only the youngest Phylica lachneaeoides stem-tip leaves on their short stalks ascend steeply. The leaves mostly spread soon, although their tips may curve up.

Yellow-green leaf colouring is very soon lost from the young leaves. There is a pale gap on the lower leaf surface where the rolled under margins don’t quite meet.

The leaves drop off the older brown stems turning grey and woody, slightly rough-surfaced from the small leaf scars (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).