It is an erect or low-lying shrub with flattened branches, linear young cladodes, leaves mostly reduced to small scales, and yellow and red flowers.

Bossiaea riparia is an erect or low-lying shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in), and has flattened winged stems, the cladodes 2–4 mm (0.079–0.157 in) wide.

Flowering occurs from August to December and the fruit is a narrow oblong or elliptic pod 12–24 mm (0.47–0.94 in) long.

[2][3][4][5][6] Bossiaea riparia was first formally described in 1864 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from an unpublished description by Allan Cunningham.

[7] The specific epithet (riparia) means "frequenting the banks of rivers or streams".