The Western Leopard Toad can reach an impressive size of about 140 mm in body length. Like all toads, it has a rough skin and two large parotoid glands on either side of the head and neck region behind the eyes. It has a beautiful pattern of chocolate to reddish-brown patches with a bright yellow or black edging, on a pink or grey background (although duller individuals are also found). There is usually a yellow stripe running the length of the back between the patches. The underside is granular and cream-coloured, with males having a darkish throat.
Around Christmas time, small white or light pink Kukumakranka flowers grow straight out of the ground with no leaves in sight. The flowers are pollinated and wither away, leaving no trace. In winter after the first rains have softened the soil, long thin spiral leaves and a fruit looking like a very small banana grow out of the ground.
When the flowering stems start to grow in the second year they seem to rise like a fountain from this low base of fluffy stems, which produces a striking and very attractive plant. When mature after three years, the plants can reach a diameter of about 1 m at ground level. Plants of both sexes are strong growing and can easily reach an age of about seven years. The main growth period is at the end of the Cape winter (August to November).