It forms a protective papery sheath during its dry dormancy.

It superficially resembles Conophytum burgeri, in being single-bodied and cone-shaped, and has even been hybridised with this species in cultivation.

However C. hammeri is smaller and solitary, and has an obscure translucent window on its summit.

This species is indigenous to the northernmost parts of the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.

It was first discovered in the 1990s, on gentle quartz-covered slopes in the eastern Richtersveld.