This species is characterized by its shortly petiolate to subsessile, somewhat small, ovate leaves with distinctive domatia; ligulate to rounded stipules 2-5 mm long with well developed glands or short segments along the margins; shortly pedunculate, shortly cymose inflorescences with a dozen or more flowers; truncate to lobed calyx limbs 1-1.5 mm long; small corollas, with the tube 2-3 mm long and the lobes 2-3 mm long and abaxily smooth;l and white fruits. This species is circumsribed somewhat differently here than previously, and is diagnosed in part by its domatia that are crypt-type with a tubular entrance. 

Rudgea panurensis is similar to Rudgea trailii and Rudgea sandemanii, which have sessile capitate inflorescences and calyx limbs 2-2.5 mm long and (apparently) lack domatia with tubular openings. The circumscription of all of these species is not entirely clear, and will need further study with field work. 

The plant in the type of this name is reasonably well characterized, and does not match most of the plants that Zappi (2006) included within her rather broad circumscription of this species. In particular, under Rudgea panurensis she synonymized Rudgea japurensis and Rudgea sessiliflora, which are treated as separate here. Rudgea japurensis can be separated by its shortly petiolate leaves, sessile capitate inflorescences, calyx limb 0.5-0.8 mm long, and longer corollas with the tube ca. 12 mm long and the lobes ca. 3 mm long. Rudgea sessiliflora can be recognized by its leaves with a few large, flat, domatia in the upper half of the blade, flowers that are solitary or borne in groups of 3-5; and fruits that are characteristically 1-2 per infructescence and sessile or borne on a short, tardily elongating peduncle. Additionally some plants Zappi included within Rudgea panurensis are here separated as Rudgea sandemanii.