Astroloba spirella (Haw.) Molteno & Gideon F.Sm. (Asphodelaceae: Alooideae), which is based on Haworthia spirella Haw., is a small, compact species that occurs in shrubby vegetation on rocky slopes in the western Klein Karoo, Western Cape Province, South Africa. The taxonomy and identity of A. spirella is clarified; it is shown that this name should be applied to populations of Astroloba Uitewaal that can be distinguished from their relatives by their true-marginate leaf apices, by the lack of tubercles on their matte-surfaced leaves, and by their non-rugose, non-inflated perianths with whitish lobes. The designation ‘A. smutsiana’, was previously sometimes applied to this species.