As Argyrodermas go, this is one of the more easily recognised ones. It is the most highly branched species, forming round clumps up to 6 cm in diameter with up to 20 leaf pairs.
The leaves are hood-shaped, keeled, at most 11 mm across the top and not wider than 10 mm; the gap between them is 2-5 mm wide. Old leaves are reddish-brown and stay on the plants for many years.
The purple flowers are 15-30 mm in diameter and appear in May-July; they have bracts with chestnut-coloured spots.
One can come across these plants between rough quartz gravel in the Vanrhynsdorp-Vredendal area.
