Pelargonium echinatum flower colour may be white, pink or purple. All five petals are streaked with dark red or purple markings, differently on the upper and lower petals. The darker flower form is reminiscent of P. magenteum. Flowering occurs from end winter through spring.

The stems are dark grey, fleshy and branched, growing from a tuber. The stems are armed with persistent spine-like stipules. The leaves are rounded to heart-shaped and lobed to scalloped. The leaf colour is pale green to yellow-green above, grey-green below.

The distribution is the Richtersveld, Namaqualand and the Bokkeveld plateau. The habitat is rocky slopes among the scrub. The plant is palatable to some game and livestock of this veld (Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Le Roux, 2005).