C. cotyledonis is very widespread and displays a great variation in size and shape of the leaves (even within the same population).
The plants form a basal rosette and usually only a few branches up to about 20 cm tall. The leaves are broadly lance-shaped to broadly egg-shaped (narrower in the Karoo) and flattened but somewhat convex above and below; they are grey-green to yellowish green, 3 – 6 (-9) cm long and 1-2.5 (-3.5) cm wide, densely covered with coarse recurved hairs (a good way to recognize the species). On the margins the hairs are longer.
The tube-shaped flowers are cream to pale yellow and appear from September to January; they are arranged in dense round clusters.
Occurring from southwestern Namibia to the Little Karoo and the Eastern Cape; usually on gravelly slopes and outcrops among rocks and bushes.
