Stems and leaves of
pectocarya recurvata are covered by white, appressed, strigose hairs; there are (usually) no spreading hairs, or bristles. Leaves are linear, with a depressed midvein. Flowers are solitary or in small groups, attached by curved stalks; they have a green, five-lobed calyx (the lobes equal in length) and a white, funnel-shaped corolla, with pale yellow appendages.
The fruit is the most distinctive feature; the four pale yellow nutlets (around 0.1 inches long) are arranged in an X-shape, in two distinct pairs, and all are strongly recurved, sometimes coiled. Nutlets are lined with sharp, flattened white teeth of differing sizes.