Species in the genus are typically short perennial plants, with leaves often arranged in a rosette and frequently having raised white markings.

The two-lipped flowers are borne on a tall stalk and are small – less than 17 mm (0.7 in) long – and pale in colour.

[2] Individual leaves are smooth or have white markings, which may take the form of small protuberances (tubercules) or be more pointed, almost spine-like.

[3][4] Two-lipped flowers were considered a distinguishing characteristic of the genus Haworthia, before Haworthiopsis and Tulista were split off.

In 1753, Carl Linnaeus followed authors before him in using the genus Aloe for a wide range of plants now placed in the tribe Aloeae by those using the broad circumscription of the family Asphodelaceae (sensu APG III onwards).

The genus Haworthia was established by Henri Auguste Duval in 1809 for former Aloe species with smaller whitish two-lipped (bilabiate) flowers.

[4] In 2016, Gildenhuys and Klopper proposed a division of the genus into seven sections, although noting that it could need re-evaluation when further phylogenetic studies had been carried out.