This slender green alga consists of single stalks that occasionally fork, growing from a basal runner to a length of 8-30 cm. These branches are about 1mm in diameter, but are densly covered in droplet shaped ramuli, taking the branch width to about 3-5mm. Ths species is a dark green in colour, and is similar to a number of other species, such as C. papillosa and C. vesiculifera. It can be distinguished by experts using the shape and number of ramuli (8-14 per row around the axis).
