The stems of Erica pannosa have fewer leaves below their tips where the leaves cluster above the stem elongation. The soft upper stem parts are lemon yellow in picture, becoming grey and woody lower down as they age.
The narrow, hairy leaves grow in whorls of four near stem-tips or are scattered or spiralling lower down the stems, mostly spreading to slightly ascending. Leaf-shape is oblong to elliptic, the margins rolled under, leaving a pale gap below (Manning and Helme, 2024; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Baker and Oliver, 1967; iNaturalist; iSpot).