The leaves are a turquoise green and occasionally become a bronze colour and show a reddish margin when exposed to direct sun.

They have green tips and in habitat they are often frayed and torn from the tiny endemic gecko species which push their heads into the perianth tube to lick the nectar and thereby pollinate the plants.

Its berries, which become orange when ripe, are eaten by the endemic lizard species Telfair’s skink which distributes the aloe's seeds.

However, A. tormentorii does not grow on a tall stem; its leaves are ovate-acuminate, thicker (reaching 15 cm width at the base), straighter, and more erect; and its flowers are red-orange (rather than yellow-pink).

All other indigenous Aloes of the region have long, thinner, more ensiform or lanceolate leaves that are more recurved and narrower than those of A. tormentorii, reaching no more than 12 cm width at the leaf-base.