Lasiosiphon deserticola is sometimes called verfbossie (little paint bush) in Afrikaans on account of the permanent dye that has been made from its flowers for long, even today. It featured in art since long ago, while the Khoi people used it as a saffron-coloured leather dye.

The petal scales protruding from the calyx tube mouth, the flower mouth, are small and brown in picture. The long calyx tube is pale or dull and hairy (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008; Manning and Goldblatt, 1997; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://pza.sanbi.org).