The alternate, linear, needle-like leaves of Chrysocoma tridentata ascend and sometimes curve in on the numerous, thin and erect stems. The leaves occasionally grow one or two lateral lobes.

The yellow flowerheads grow solitary and slender-stalked at stem-tips. Only tiny, tubular, five-lobed disc florets are produced in a compact multitude in each disc. The green involucre below is cup-shaped, comprising four rows of bracts with narrow, membranous margins.

Flowering usually happens at the end of winter (Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist).