The bark is smooth, or cracked with shallow fissures on the largest trees.

[4][6][7] The species was first formally described in 1842 by George Bentham, from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham in the London Journal of Botany from specimens collected at Bowen.

[8][9] The specific epithet (aulocarpa) means 'furrow-fruit', referring to the markings on the pods.

[6] Acacia aulacocarpa has a discontinuous distribution, mainly in coastal areas and nearby tablelands from near Daintree to near Brisbane in Queensland, and near Grafton in New South Wales.

It grows in clay or loam along watercourses, in sandy soil on rocky outcrops in forest and shrubland[6][7] or in woodland on sandstone.