Verticordia pennigera is a small erect or prostrate shrub found throughout Southwest Australia. The flowers are pink and fringed. The species occurs on soils that are sandy or clay types; frequently gravelly or granitic. While sometimes erect to 600 mm, though perhaps straggly in habit, the species is often found as a prostrate shrub; the many branches radiate out to a height of just 150 mm.
The botanist who named this species, Stephan Endlicher, gave its first description in his Enumeratio Plantarum; this was based on material collected by Carl von Hügel. The lectotype for the species was selected from the collection of James Drummond, in a 1991 revision of the genus, by Alex George. A synonym for this binary name is Verticordia setigera, named by John Lindley, in A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony.