After flowering, the small fruit capsules of Galenia sarcophylla form, enveloped in the thick, fleshy sepals.

The specific name, sarcophylla, is derived from the Greek words sarco-, a prefix meaning flesh or fleshy and phylla meaning leaves. The fleshy leaves and sepals are similar.

Common Afrikaans names, porselein (porcelain) or beslyn (a contraction of the same word), are shared among several plants bearing fleshy leaves (Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Le Roux, et al, 2005; iNaturalist).