Erica fastigiata is an erect shrub, and can grow to a height of about 1 m. It has a very distinctive arrangement of four flowers at the end of each flowering branch, hence its common name. The corolla is a dark red to purplish cylindrical tube of about 10 mm long. It has a dark greenish or pink ring at the mouth. The broad, spreading lobes vary from pink to pale pink. In the Hottentots Holland form, the dark, central 'eye' or ring is absent. These spectacular flowers occur from August to January.