Clumped perennial up to 30cm with scabrid stems. Narrow harsh, hairy leaves are up to 20cm long have a tuft of woolly hairs at the base; flower stem has a fine sandpapery feel; purple, pink or white flowers are usually grouped together in rounded or flat heads; bracts are sticky and slightly sandpapery. Seldom blooms except after veld fires when it is profuse.

The leaves are wider, the flowerhead is tighter, the corymbs flatter than C. africanum subsp. scabridum var gramineum.