Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. sandwicense is a giant rosette plant. The plant grows as a ball-shaped basal rosette composed of narrow lance-shaped leaves that may be up to 39 cm (15.4 in) long and up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide at the midpoint. Leaves are coated with silvery hairs. Branched (polycarpic) individuals produce a tight cluster of rosettes of various sizes. The entire cluster may be up to 150 cm (59 in) in diameter. The inflorescence stalk, the bracts that subtend the pedicels, and the involucre bracts are all covered with sticky glandular hairs that emit a faint sweet odor. Flower heads are 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter, and have white to pink ray florets and pink to maroon disk florets. Each floret produces a single fruit, an achene, which may or may not contain a single seed. Achenes are black, 1 cm (0.4 in) long, and have a pappus of one to six short scales.