It is a small, erect shrub with linear to narrow elliptic, sharp-tipped leaves, and yellow and red flowers.

The upper and lower surfaces a similar shade of green and are covered with small pimples.

[2][3][4][5] Pultenaea aristata was first formally described in 1825 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis from an unpublished description by Franz Sieber.

[8] Bearded bush-pea grows in woodland and heath on sandstone, from the southern suburbs of Sydney to Mount Keira near Wollongong.

The main threats to the species include inappropriate fire regimes, understorey clearing and road widening and maintenance.