Slender, repeatedly branched ochre to tawny coral fungus with buff-yellow apices, arising from a white rhizomorphic base. Branches bruise slate-olive to dark brown, and the species has an earthy odour and bitter taste.

Fruitbody: Slender, repeatedly branched, typically arbuscular, to 120 x 30 mm. Branches erect, terete, gradually diminishing toward the tips; upper branching predominantly dichotomous; hymenium amphigenous. Stipe to 21 x 4 mm, terete or weakly lobed, pallid cream below, pale ochre above, often showing localised strong brunnescence when bruised. Base arising from a white mass of slender rhizomorphs and an irregular mycelial pad.
Branch colour: Major branches ochraceous buff to ochraceous tawny, axils rounded; apices buff-yellow, awl-shaped. When cut, upper branches rapidly develop a slate-olive suffusion about 0.5 mm from the cut surface; stipe surface may react similarly but inconsistently. When crushed, branches slowly turn dark brown.
Odour/taste: Odour earthy; taste distinctly bitter.