It was first described by Robert Brown in his reference work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen in 1810.

Its previous habitat consists of grassy areas near rivers in elevations until 700 m asl with an annual rainfall of 600 mm.

It was native in the ecoregions North Coast (NC), Northern Tablelands (NT), Central Tablelands (CT), North West Slopes (NWS) and Central West Slopes (CWS) in the Australian state of New South Wales, in particular in the areas from Bathurst to Walcha.

In 1997 the World Conservation Monitoring Centre compiled it into the IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants within the category "globally extinct".

[3] After the enacting of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in 2000 it was listed as officially extinct in July 2000 by the Australian government.