Struthiola tetralepis is a willowy shrublet of up to 30 cm (0.98 ft) high that is assigned to the family Thymelaeaceae.

These leaves are small, overlapping, lance-shaped, sharply pointed, have a regular row of hairs along the margins, and 3-5 veins are visible on the outward facing surface.

Charles Henry Wright in 1915 considered the varieties insufficiently characterised and regarded S. tetralepis var.

They are lance-shaped, generally 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long and 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) wide, somewhat depressed along the main vein, increasingly pointed towards the tip, with a row of hairs pressed to the surface along its rim when young, with 3 to 5 stripes visible along the length of the outward facing surface.

[1] The flowers are seated in the axils of the leaves over a considerable length towards the tip of the branches, an inflorescence type called a spike.

About 1 mm (0.039 in) below the mouth of the tube sits on whorl of four seated stamens, that have a whitish wart at their tips.