Othonna retrorsa is a geophytic, cushion-forming, succulent species, with a many-headed woolly caudex producing rosettes of very distinctive, leathery, reticulate-veined leaves. The leaves are persistent at the base and their dried remains accumulate around the short stems, gradually decaying into a fibrous mass. One or more, sparsely branched flowering stems with small yellow flowers heads are produced from each rosette. It grows to 10 cm tall and 30 cm in diameter with age.