[3] The glabrous tree grows up to 15 to 18 metres (49 to 59 ft) high, with short horizontal branches and pendulous branchlets covered in needle-like phyllodes adapted for the arid climate.

[4] The species was originally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1863 that was published in the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.

[3] Although speculated to have been widespread across central Australia during wetter climates 400,000 years ago,[8] the population is now mostly restricted to three sites,[3] separated by the encroaching Simpson Desert.

In the Northern Territory, the species is restricted to the Mac Clark (Acacia peuce) Conservation Reserve which is surrounded by a pastoral lease, Andado Station.

[6] They grow on shallow sand aprons overlaying gibber or clay slopes and plains and between longitudinal dunes or on alluvial flats between ephemeral watercourses.

Associated species include shrubs, such as Rhagodia, Atriplex, Grevillea stricta, Atlaya hemiglauca and Hakea leucoptera.

[3] The tree is host to various butterflies and their larvae and also provides protective habitat for birds, such as grey falcons and desert finches.