Silene bellidioides is a soft perennial herb that grows to 60 cm. The sparsely branched, erect stems are covered in sticky hairs. The leaves are opposite, narrow and linear or narrowly lanceolate. Stem leaves are sessile or stalkless, the midrib prominent on the lower surface.

The hardy plant is found widespread across South Africa, recorded in Namaqualand as well as in KwaZulu-Natal, the Karoo, the southern Cape and north of the Vaal River, often in open grassland or near watercourses. This plant was seen in eastern Lesotho (Van Wyk and Malan, 1997; iSpot; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).