It is a shrub with narrow oblong or linear leaves and yellow and red flowers.

Flowering occurs from July to November and the fruit is an oblong pod 12–30 mm (0.47–1.18 in) long.

[2][3] Bossiaea eriocarpa was first formally described in 1837 by George Bentham in Enumeratio plantarum quas in Novae Hollandiae ora austro-occidentali ad fluvium Cygnorum et in sinu Regis Georgii collegit Carolus Liber Baro de Hügel from specimens collected near King George Sound.

[6] Common brown pea grows in a range of habitats in near-coastal areas from Zuytdorp Nature Reserve north of Kalbarri to near Albany in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain biogeographic regions of south-western Western Australia.

[2][3] Bossiaea eriocarpa is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife.