Plants branched from base, 10-40(-60) cm, sparsely covered with dendroid and almost stellate hairs. Leaf blades narrowly lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, plane, 2-5 × (0.1-)0.2-0.5(-0.6) cm. Inflorescences usually dense, ovoid, ovate-clavate, or ovate-cylindric, rarely interrupted near base. Bracts ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 0.5-1.5(-2) × 0.3-1 cm. Perianth segment 1. Fruits usually deep olive green, brown, or rarely to almost black, usually without spots and/or warts, or occasionally spotted, strongly convex abaxially, prominently concave to almost plane adaxially, usually broadest beyond middle, (3.2-)3.5-4.5(-5) × 2.2-3.3(-3.5) mm; wing (when present) semitranslucent, to 0.2 mm wide, margins entire, apex rounded or indistinctly triangular.

The inflorescence bracts of Corispermum hookeri are conspicuously imbricate (usually strongly overlapping). Corispermum hookeri seems to be closely related to the narrow-winged taxa, C. villosum and C. ochotense, and to C. pallasii sensu stricto. The names C. orientale and C. hyssopifolium have been commonly misapplied to this species.