Radular tooth: Anterior section of the radular tooth is slightly longer or subequal in length to the posterior section of the tooth; basal spur is present; a short barb is present; the blade is moderately long and prominent and may extend for more than half the anterior section of the tooth; serrations and a terminating cusp are present and exposed along the shaft of the tooth.
Shell characters: Nodules are absent or obsolete early; cords become numerous and tiny in outer whorls; shells are large, thick and conical in shape; the shoulders are rounded; the anal notch is shallow; the operculum is small; the periostracum is often thick and ridged but may also be smooth; the protoconch is multispiral.

Dendroconus and Lithoconus may be related. Both include large broadly conical to elongate conical shells that have strong spiral color patterns. They differ in the operculum (small in Dendroconus and large in Lithoconus) and the general ground color. In Dendroconus the basic color is yellow, cream, brown or gray with the spiral lines or spiral rows of dots arranged over that coloration. In Lithoconus the pattern is laid over a white ground color.

The species included in the genus occur in the Indo-Pacific region.