This species was originally named as Scilla asperifolia in 1944 by F.Z. van der Merwe. It was later transferred to the genus Ledebouria and regarded as a form of L. revoluta. It was only much later that it was resurrected as a species of Ledebouria on its own by S. Venter, in 2003.

The genus Ledebouria is named in honour of the German-Estonian botanist, Professor Carl Friedrich von Ledebour (1785–1851). The species name asperifolia is derived from two Latin words asper, meaning ‘rough’ and folia, meaning ‘leaf’, in reference to the longitudinal rows of asperities on the leaves, which give them a rough feel.

South Africa has 39 Ledebouria species; the genus is distributed across Africa, India and Madagascar with the centre of species diversity in the eastern parts of southern Africa.

This species is most easily confused with Ledebouria revoluta which has smooth leaf surfaces and never has any longitudinal rows of asperities (papillae) on the leaf surfaces. L. asperifolia is defined by Venter (2003) as having tongue-shaped asperities on the leaves and scape (inflorescence stalk), which is true most of the time at least on the basal portion of the underside of the leaf. The leaf base is often also reddish and the maculations (leaf spots) are normally well defined (when present) and often oblong in shape, although it is not impossible to get variously spotted and immaculate (unspotted) individuals.

Some populations have a glaucous appearance due to a bluish powdery bloom, which covers the leaves. This is particularly the case in the Vryheid-Pongola areas of northern KwaZulu-Natal and some very attractive individuals can be selected from these populations. One population from near Muden in KwaZulu-Natal, has the leaves almost completely covered with the asperities on both surfaces. In the Sekukhuniland area of Mpumalanga, there is a population which is completely immaculate and grows in large clusters of around 20 bulbs or more. These plants look like miniature Eucomis when not in flower. Leaf length and width can be variable between populations, but within the populations are usually quite stable. The florets are densely arranged on the rachis, often with whitish or pale-coloured pedicels (flower stalks) and characteristically small flowers which usually have acute tepal (petal) apices.