This species has a robust glabrescent habit, petiolate broadly elliptic leaves, pedunculate cymose inflorescences usually borne with the leaves, rather well developed (for Hoffmannia) yellow to pink, orange, or purple corollas with tubes 7-9 mm long and twice or more as long as the lobes, and subglobose fruits. The inflorescences are frequently quite well developed and multiflowered for Hoffmannia, and the corollas are rather large for this genus. Hoffmannia josefina is circumscribed somewhat differently here than by most previous authors. In particular Hoffmannia josefina has been considered by some authors to be the same as Hoffmannia arbofescens, but that synonymy seems to have been based at least in part on study of specimens of Hoffmannia arborescens that were misidentified as Hoffmannia josefina. Some of the plants included here were previously confused with Hoffmannia leucocarpa, which however does not completetly match Hoffmannia josefina.

Hoffmannia josefina is similar to Hoffmannia asclepiadea and Hoffmannia arborescens, which are both also robust for Hoffmannia, and to Hoffmannia tilaranensis and Hoffmannia regalis. Hoffmannia josefina is also similar to several species of Notopleura, in particular Notopleura tonduzii, Notopleura aggeregata, and Notopleura costaricensis.