Leptospermum rupicola is a low-growing shrub that typically grows to a height or less. It has thin, firm bark, the younger stems with flattened hairs at first and a conspicuous flange. The leaves are narrow lance-shaped, about long and wide with a sharp point on the tip and tapering at the base but without a
petiole. The flowers are white, wide and are borne singly on short side shoots from adjacent leaf
axils. There are a few reddish-brown
bracts at the base of the young flower buds but they are soon shed. The
floral cup is
glabrous, about long and the
sepals about long. The
petals are about long and the
stamens long. Flowering mainly occurs from March to May and from September to October. The fruit is a
capsule in diameter, the sepals having fallen off, and that remains on the plant when mature. ==Taxonomy and naming==