Arranged in racemes, the globular yellow flowers appear from late winter to spring (August to October),[2] peaking in September.

[3] French botanist Étienne Pierre Ventenat described the downy wattle in 1803, in his Jardin de la Malmaison as Mimosa pubescens.

An analysis of genomic and chloroplast DNA along with morphological characters found that the section is polyphyletic, though the close relationships of it and many other species were unable to be resolved.

[2] Endemic to New South Wales, Acacia pubescens is restricted to the Sydney Basin, where it is found in scattered populations from Bardwell Valley to Oakdale and Mountain Lagoon.

It grows in open sclerophyll forest, associated with such species as grey box (Eucalyptus moluccana), broad-leaved ironbark (E. fibrosa), white feather honeymyrtle (Melaleuca decora), and blackthorn (Bursaria spinosa).