It is a dense shrub that often forms root suckers and has winged branches, winged and lobed cladodes, leaves reduced to small scales, and deep yellow flowers, often with red blotches.

The branches are flattened and winged, with cladodes 5–14 mm (0.20–0.55 in) wide with lobed edges.

Flowering occurs from November to December and the fruit is an oblong pod 23–32 mm (0.91–1.26 in) long.

[3][4][2] Bossiaea bracteosa was first formally described in 1864 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from an unpublished description by Ferdinand von Mueller from specimens he collected in the Australian Alps.

[6] There are five recently described species that were previously included in a wider circumscription of Bossiaea bracteosa:[4] This bossiaea grows in shallow soil in snowgum woodland at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,600 m (3,300 and 5,200 ft) in north-eastern Victoria, where it is classed as "rare", although common in some populations.