Xanthosia dissecta is a prostrate, tufted herb that typically grows to a height of 10 cm (3.9 in) with much-branched stems and low-lying branches.

The leaves are 2 or 3 times dissected, with linear to egg-shaped lobes 1–2 mm (0.039–0.079 in) long.

The inflorescence is arranged in leaf axils or on the ends of short branches with up to 3 umbellules with 1 or 2 rays.

Each partial umbel is subtended by a linear to narrowly elliptic involucral bract 2–3 mm (0.079–0.118 in) long.

[2][3][4] Xanthosia dissecta was first formally described in 1840 by Joseph Dalton Hooker in Icones Plantarum from specimens collected by Ronald Campbell Gunn in Tasmania.