Brachyscome ciliaris is an upright or ascending perennial herb to 45 cm (18 in) high with smooth, occasionally woolly or soft glandular hairs.

The white or mauve flower heads 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) in diameter, peduncle thread-like, bracts green, pointed, jagged and lance-shaped.

Flowering may occur throughout the year and the fruit is an oblong to egg-shaped, flattened achene 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long and brown.

This species was first collected by Jacques Labillardière and published in his 1806 Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen under the name Bellis ciliaris.

It is somewhat restricted in terms of habitat, however, favouring red earths and grey sands over limestone or clay, in disturbed areas and on the margins of salt pans.