It is a dense, low-lying shrub with linear, more or less cylindrical phyllodes in whorls of 6 to 10, heads of golden-yellow flowers, and flat, sticky pods.

Its phyllodes are arranged in whorls of 6 to 10, and are more or less cylindrical to flattened, mostly 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in), sometimes with a small point on the end, and an impressed vein on the lower surface.

[2][3][4] Acacia adoxa was first formally described in 1972 by the botanist Leslie Pedley in Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium from specimens collected in the Northern Territory by George Chippendale.

[4][6] Pedley later reclassified the species in 2003 as Racosperma adoxum but the name was not accepted by the Australian Plant Census.

[10] Grey-whorled wattle is widespread on red sandy soils, sandstone and ironstone gravel, and grows on coastal dunes, stony plains and ridges.