[3] The non-lignotuberous shrub or tree with an open habit typically grows to a height of 3 to 8 metres (9.8 to 26.2 ft)[2] and has a v-shaped canopy and rough bark.

[4] The evergreen linear leaves are up to a length of 15 centimetres (5.9 in) and a width of around 3 millimetres (0.118 in).

[3] The species was first formally described by the botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1858 as part of the work Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.

[5] The specific epithet honours George William Francis, who was the first director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden, from 1857 to 1865.

[3][6] It is endemic to an area in the Wheatbelt, Mid West and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia from Geraldton in the west to Wiluna in the north to Lake Grace in the south and the Great Victoria Desert in the east extending into western parts of South Australia where it is found on sand-plains growing in sandy-clay, loam or clay soils often with gravel and quartz present.