It is a tiny, compact, blue-green evergreen succulent perennial, that is native to the Western Cape, South Africa.

[2] In the wild, this particularly small, diminutive species is completely confined to the dry clay soil of “Rûens Shale Renosterveld” – a critically endangered and rapidly disappearing vegetation type of South Africa in the Cape Floristic Region.

Small populations are normally found growing on inaccessible rocky slopes and cliffs, especially near the coast, but it is thought that these are merely relics of what was once a much wider distribution.

[1] A. brevifolia has been assessed as endangered due to its fragmented and decreasing population in 12 remaining locations.

It should be remembered that it is adapted to the Mediterranean climate of the Western Cape, with its winter rainfall regime.