[1] This relatively small, variable species of Gasteria has rough, pointed leaves, that eventually form a rosette (though leaves in seedlings are distichous as with all Gasterias).

The mottled leaves usually have a strong keel, meaning that they are triangular in cross-section.

They also have many tiny white spots, which occur in bands, giving a faint row of stripes on the leaves surfaces.

It is the most northerly of all Gasteria species, occurring from northern KwaZulu-Natal province, northwards through Eswatini and Mpumalanga, as far north as the Olifants River in Limpopo Province.

Plants from the Barberton area are almost black in colour, while plants from the Mzimduzi river have almost smooth leaves, and those from Sifula in the south have very fine tubercles.