A much branched evergreen shrub or small tree of dense, very leafy habit; young shoots angular, downy or bristly. Leaves (there are no phyllodes) pinnate, 1⁄2 to 1 in. long, produced in pairs that are united at the base, each made up of four to eight pairs of leaflets; main-stalk downy or bristly. Leaflets oblong, rounded at the end, 1⁄6 to 1⁄4 in. long, 1⁄16 in. wide; dull intense green, sometimes ciliate. At the base of the leaf-axil there is often a needle-like spine 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers rich bright yellow, produced in balls 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. wide, usually in pairs from the leaf-axils, each on a slender stalk 1⁄2 to 1 in. long. Pod 1 to 2 in. long, 1⁄6 in. wide, the margins thickened in the same way as those of common laburnum. Bot. Mag., t. 4588.
Native of W. Australia in the Swan River region; introduced about 1803. It is one of the most beautiful of Australian acacias and flowers every spring in the greatest profusion.