The leaves of Acanthopsis dispermoides grow in a basal, flatly spreading rosette. The leaf petioles are short, sometimes absent or nearly so.

The grey-green blades are oblong with prominent, whitish midribs. The blades are finely hairy, the hairs sometimes including glandular ones. The leaf margins are variably lobed and wavy with thin, hard spines spaced along them (Steyn and Van Wyk, 2015: Taxonomic notes on the Acanthopsis disperma-hoffmannseggiana complex (Acanthaceae, tribe Acantheae), with an interim key to members of the genus. Phytotaxa 219 (1): 01–26; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist).