This species of glabrous shrubs and small trees is characterized by its glabrescent habit, triangular short stipules that are fused around the stem and are deciduous leaving a well developed scar, medium-sized leaves that lack domatia or sometimes have sparsely pilosulous domatia, pedunculate paniculiform inflorescences with reduced bracts and the flowers in subcapitate groups, rather short calyx limbs that are truncate and sometimes have four tufts of pubescence, medium-sized externally puberulous corollas with the tubes longer than the lobes, nd medium-sized ellipsoid fruits. The corollas of this species are extremely slender. The specimens characteristically dry gray or blackened.

Steyermark (1967: pp. 362-363) noted that this species is morphologically variable across its range, and recogized two varieities: var. hirticalyx with the pedicels "densely cinereous-strigillose" and the calyx "with more numerous andlonger, hispid, erect hairs", and var. glabrior with the pedicels less densely "appressed cinereous-puberulent" and the calyx "nearly glabrous except for a few apressed, stiff, hirsutulous hairs on part of the summit and part of the tube". His var. glabrior was based on one specimen from southern Colombia. With more specimens available now, continuous and uncorrelated variation has been documented in the features that distinguished these varieties and thus their separation longer seems useful. These varieties were not recognized by Taylor (1999). This species is also now documented from apparently a much broader range, perhaps to east-central Amazonia, and Coussarea japurana is not separable.

Coussarea hirticalyx is similar to Coussarea pilosiflora with smaller stipules, racemiform inflorescences, and pilose corollas. Coussarea hirticalyx is also similar to Faramea panurensis, which is poorly known but seems to differ markedly in leaf characters. Coussarea hirticalyx has also been confused with Coussarea macrophylla, Coussarea ecuadorensis, and Coussarea tenuiflora.