Strumaria is a moderately diverse group of small, bulbous plants. Covered with felt-like tunics, the bulbs produce long, extensible, spiralled threads when torn, a feature that identifies all members of the tribe Amaryllideae to which it belongs. The growth cycle is much like that of other deciduous members of the Amaryllidaceae from the winter rainfall region of South Africa. New leaves emerge soon after the first rains fall in winter and they die in late spring, long before the flowers appear in autumn.

The genus has two patterns of leaf growth. Most species have two or rarely three leaves arranged opposite each other and these are often fringed or clothed with hairs. They are arched or pressed to the ground and vary from strap- to oval-shaped. In contrast, a few species have up to six smooth, strap-shaped leaves that grow in a spreading, somewhat erect fan. Strumaria truncata is unusual in having a prominent, inflated, liver-coloured sheath which often precedes and protects the young foliage.  Another particularly interesting species is S. bidentata which has sticky leaves that collect grains of wind-blown sand. This sand-bearing habit, known as psammophory, is characteristic of many plants from different families that thrive in sandy, windswept places.

The 2-30 flowers are held in a spreading or clustered, often pendulous, umbel-like head carried on a slender, naked stalk (scape). As they emerge from the ground, each flower cluster is enveloped by two membranous, pink bracts, but these soon part and wither to expose the pretty, star- to funnel-shaped flowers. Each flower is carried on a pedicel, the length of which varies considerably between species. Species in which the pedicels are long and rigid have heads like small, outspread umbrellas. In contrast, those with short, lax pedicels have small, loose heads. The flowers have six pink, white or pale lemon-yellow tepals that are often darkly striped on the outside and they produce copious amounts of nectar in three large droplets or wells at the base of the enlarged style. In several species the flowers are scented.

Three or six stamens are characteristically joined to the style which is swollen towards the base. In some species the stamens are joined only near the style's base, but in others the join extends half way up their length. A further unusual feature is that the filaments in some species are toothed. The swelling at the base of the style varies from disc-shaped to egg-shaped or even three-winged. Each of these forms helps to hold nectar in slightly different ways.

Thin-walled capsules, comprising three compartments, hold up to nine greenish red, egg-shaped seeds which vary from 2-5 mm in diameter.