This species has a rather robust hirtellous to glabrescent habit, elliptic petiolate leaves, pedunculate cymose to racemiform inflorescences that are generally borne along the bare stems below the leaves, orange to red or yellow corollas with the tubes 6-7 m long and twice as long as the lobes, and subglobose medium-sized fruits. The inflorescences are rather lax and pendulous, and this species is possibly hummingbird-pollinated. The corolls in bud are pyramidal in shape and thus similar to species of Hoffmannia with rotate corollas (i.e., with the lobes much longer than the tubes); but subsequently the tube portion elongates and eventually becomes longer than the lobes.

Hoffmannia pittieri is similar to Hoffmannia killipii and Hoffmannia sprucei of northwestern South America, and to Hoffmannia arborescens and Hoffmannia asclepiadea of Central America.