This is a spreading shrub growing usually wider than tall and up to about 1.5 meters.

The stems are gray, with the twigs yellow-green in color and fuzzy in texture when new.

The evergreen leaves are alternately arranged and up to 3 centimeters long.

The fruit is a rough, ridged capsule up to half a centimeter long.

In addition, Ceanothus cordulatus is known to be an important source of nitrogen patches for significantly longer times than other similar post-disturbance successional shrubs, following disturbance events such as forest fires.