It is a dense, erect shrub with many of its parts covered with a layer of grey to yellowish-grey scales and with pink, purple or red flowers.

Its branches, leaves, flower stalks and sepals are covered with a layer of grey or yellowish scales, although these are sometime lost as the part ages.

[2][3]The species was first formally described in 1876 by Ferdinand von Mueller,[4] based on specimens collected at Queen Victoria Spring by Jess Young during the Giles expedition of May 1875.

[9] Subspecies lepidota is a rarely-seen plant that grows on clay flats and floodplains between Newman and Exmouth[3] in the Carnarvon, Gascoyne, Little Sandy Desert and Pilbara biogeographic regions.

It is a hardy and reliable shrub for larger gardens and bears masses of brick red or dusky pink flowers as well as being attractive to nectar-feeding birds.