It is a dense, greyish, multi-stemmed shrub with whorled leaves, prominent sepals and pale, pinkish-white flowers.

The leaves are stalkless, arranged in whorls, more or less crowded near the ends of the branches, lance-shaped, 8–20 cm (3–8 in) long and 3–5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide.

[2][3] The flowers are pale whitish-pink and are usually arranged in groups of up to three on stalks 1–2 mm (0.04–0.08 in) long in upper leaf axils.

The flowers are surrounded by linear to lance-shaped bracts and bracteoles which are 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) long, scaly on the outside and glabrous and scale-less on the inside.

[2][3] This species was first formally described in 1876 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Chloanthes loricata and published the description in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae.