[6] It is a small tree (uppermost height approximately 5 metres or 16 feet) that occurs naturally along the southwest coast of Western Australia, from Fremantle to King George Sound.

[8] It is considered a weed in the parts of Australia where it is not indigenous,[9] as well as in New Zealand, South Africa, the Canary Islands, the Philippines and Chile.

[10] It was first described in 1806 as Acacia lophantha by Willdenow, but was transferred to the genus Paraserianthes by Nielsen, Guinet and Baretta-Kuipers in 1983.

[1][2] The genus Paraserianthes originally comprised four species, divided into two sections based on morphological traits by Nielsen.

[13] Brown et al. used biogeographical, morphological and molecular studies to completely separate of these sections into two genera as Paraserianthes sensu Nielsen was paraphyletic.