Haworthiopsis tessellata is a succulent evergreen slow-growing species reaching a size of 15 cm in height.

It is a stemless plant, with square patterned leaves on the upper surfaces and small teeth along the margins.

The leaves are greenish, form a rosette and turn to reddish in full sun.

It is extremely closely related to Haworthiopsis granulata (restricted to the far south-west of its range near Laingsburg) and to Haworthiopsis venosa (a species restricted to a spot on the south coast of South Africa).

Its habitat is the dry, summer-rainfall Karoo, where it grows within bushes and in rocky areas.