Phylica ericoides is a much-branched, compact, bushy evergreen shrub usually reaching 0.6 m with equal spread but older bushes left to their own devices can reach 1 m. Branches are slender with a sparse covering of short, fine, grey hairs. Leaves are lance-shaped to linear, obtuse or nearly acute, and rounded or heart-shaped at the base, 5-8 mm long, closely set, alternate, simple and have a short petiole.

The margins are rolled under (revolute) so that they almost cover the entire lower leaf surface. The upper surface is often rough and usually hairless, or the margin and midrib are sparsely hairy when young. The undersurface is covered with short, fine grey hairs.

You need good eyesight, and a hand lens or dissecting microscope to examine phylica flowers. The flowers are very small, 1.5-2 mm long, tightly packed into 4-7 mm wide rounded heads (capitula) at the tips of the branches. The heads are solitary or clustered. Each tiny flower is broadly cup-shaped, and is made up of a ± 0.5 mm deep, hairless calyx tube, ± 0.75 mm long sepals the outer surface of which is densely covered with coarse, curly white hairs, and tiny 0.5 mm long petals inserted on the upper half of the calyx tube.

Each flower also has bracts, those of the outer flowers are leaf-like and surround the capitulum, whereas those of the inner flowers are 1 mm long and densely hairy. Look closely at a flower head and you can see yellowish green, star-like 'holes' in amongst the whiteness-those are the freshly opened flowers.

The older flowers turn brown on the inside as they close up again. Flowers are produced at any time of the year. At Kirstenbosch, they flower mainly during late summer-autumn-winter (Feb. to June). The flowers have a fairly strong honey scent. The fruit is a ± 4 mm long, obovate, hairless purple-brown capsule with a small depressed area on top, splitting explosively to release smooth seeds with an aril at the base.

Phylica ericoides is divided into five varieties based on a number of characteristics. Some, e.g. the variations in their minute petals, are impossible to observe with the naked eye, but they can also be told apart by their size or flower size and by their geographic distribution.

var. ericoides: as described above. 
var. montana Pillans: from Sir Lowy's Pass in the Stellenbosch District with slender upper branches, longer, more linear leaves and the whole plant is about two thirds of the size of var. ericoides.
var. muirii Pillans: from the Riversdale District where the plants are smaller (up to 0.35 m), with slender pubescent branchlets, and smaller leaves (3-5 mm).
var. pauciflora Pillans: from the Bredasdorp District where plants are about 0.4 m tall, have very slender branches and small (5 mm long) linear leaves, and smaller flower heads (2.5-3 mm wide) made up of smaller (1.5-1.75 mm long) flowers.
var. zeyheri Pillans: from the Caledon District where the leaves are rounded at the base with a sharp apex and the individual flowers are larger (2-2.5 mm long).