the shrub typically grows to a height of and has an erect or spreading habit. it has smooth, grey to black coloured bark on the main trunk and limbs with terete, densely hair branchlets. like most species of "acacia" it has phyllodes rather than true leaves. the evergreen phyllodes appear whorled or in clusters and have a linear to narrowly elliptic shape and are usually slightly curved or less frequently straight. the subglaucous and hairy phyllodes have a length of and a wisth of and become longitudinally wrinkled as they dry. it blooms between august and september producing yellow flowers. the inflorescences appear in groups of one to three on an axillary axis, the spherical flower-heads have a diameter of and contain 30 to 40 yellow or bright yellow flowers. after flowering hairy and leathery seed pods form that are flat but also strongly curved or twisted and have straight sides but can be slightly constricted between the seeds. the pods are in length and have a width of with the seeds arranged longitudinally inside. the shiny black seeds have an oblong to elliptical shape with a length of and a clavate aril.