The leaves of Dianthus micropetalus are arranged in tufts at the base of the low growing woody shrublet. Branching allows for many tufts to form on one plant, as on the one in this photo.  They are blue-green in colour, narrowly linear, appearing grass-like. The plant is grazed by livestock and game in its habitat of summer rainfall rocky ridges.

In Afrikaans the plant is called grashout, meaning grass wood (Shearing and Van Heerden, 2008).