It is a small, erect to prostrate shrub with hairy young stems, egg-shaped leaves with the narrower end towards the base, and clusters of white to cream-coloured or greenish yellow, densely shaggy-hairy flowers.

Stenanthemum notiale is a variable, erect to prostrate shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 50–60 cm (20–24 in), its young stems covered with soft, greyish or rust-coloured hairs.

[2][3] Stenanthemum notiale was first formally described in 1995 by Barbara Lynette Rye in the journal Nuytsia from specimens collected by Eric Jackson near the Young River crossing on the Ravensthorpe - Esperance road in 1968.

[2] In the same journal, Rye described two subspecies of S. notiale and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census: Subspecies chamelum grows in heath and shrubland, usually over limestone, and is found on the coastal plain between Lancelin and Perth in the Geraldton Sandplains and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.

[12][7][10] Subspecies notiale is classified as "endangered" under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.