The straight to slightly curved phyllodes are 5 to 12.5 cm (2.0 to 4.9 in) in length and 3.5 to 16 mm (0.14 to 0.63 in) wide and have numerous obscure parallel nerves.

The cylindrical flower-spikes are 2.5 to 5.5 cm (0.98 to 2.17 in) in length and have a diameter of 5 to 7 mm (0.20 to 0.28 in) with loosely pack light golden coloured flowers.

[citation needed] A. xiphophylla is a slow-growing and long-lived species that regenerates exclusively from seeds and will not form root suckers.

[1] The species was first formally described by Georg August Pritzel in 1904 as part of the work by Ptritzel and Ludwig Diels Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae occidentalis.

[3] It occurs on saline semi-arid land in the Gascoyne River and Ashburton catchments east and north of Carnarvon in the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions of Western Australia on plains, rocky clay flats and stony creek beds[2] as a part of Acacia shrubland and low woodland communities where they can sometimes dominate.