Hakea vittata is a prostrate or straggly shrub typically growing to a height of 0.1 to 2 metres (0 to 7 ft) that forms a lignotuber.

The red-brown main flower stalk is 0.5–3 mm (0.02–0.1 in) long and covered in short soft hairs that lie flat.

Hakea vittata has two characteristics that distinguish it from other species in the genus, the presence of "witches broom" galls where it has a mass of dense shoots growing from a single point.

[3][4][5] Hakea vittata was first formally described by the botanist Robert Brown as part of the work On the natural order of plants called Proteaceae as published in the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.

Hooked needle-wood is found in the southern regions of South Australia from Kangaroo Island and Fleurieu Peninsula growing mostly in sandy mallee scrub on limestone.