The leaves of Pelargonium crispum are small and rough with crinkly or angularly wavy and serrated margins. Leaf size is about 1 cm in diameter. Leaves are pleated along the veins, often lemon-scented, sometimes strongly so. In the picture the leaves are spaced up the straight and erect branches that are green near the tips, dark below and woody near the base.

The species resembles P. hermanniifolium (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010; Manning, 2009; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984).