This species is characterized by its medium-sized to somewhat robust, generally thick-textured leaves, shortly peciellate 4-merous flowers that are often closely grouped in congested cymes, yellowish green to green corollas with the tube 10-18 mm long and often whitened inside, and generally quite stout woody capsules 30-60 x 8-15 mm. Steyermark separated several varieties based on details of the pubescence, but these were not recognized by Anunciação (2004) and she is followed here.

Anunciação separated Ferdinandusa goudotiana in specimen annotations, but then in the final text of her revision it was included within the circumscription of Ferdinandusa chlorantha. without  any discussion. These species are separated here pending more detailed study, with Ferdinandusa chlorantha characterized by generally smaller leaves, shorter more slender capsules, and a range centered in the western Amazon basin. Ferdinandusa goudotiana is also similar to Ferdinandusa loretensis of the western Amazon basin, with the longer corolla tube 26-38 mm long. 

The type of Ferdinandusa goudotiana was cited in the protologue and by Steyermark (1972) as Schomburgk 985, but for some reason another collection, Schombugk 621, has been widely but incorrectly curated as the type of this name. The name of this species has sometimes been confused with Gomphosia goudotiana Wedd., which is an illegitimate name for Cinchona dissimiliflora from Colombia, which is a different species and a synonym of Macrocnemum roseum. Gomphosia is a synonym of Ferdinandusa and Weddell  thought that Colombian plant was represented by a Goudot collection that is a Ferdinandusa but the original material of that other name is not. Schumann gave no explanation for why he named his Ferdinandusa species for Goudot, and made no mention of Weddell's name.