Schenkia australis grows as an annual, or rarely biannual, herb, from 2 to 30 centimetres high.

[1] This species was first published by Robert Brown in his 1810 Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae, under the name Erythraea australis.

The same study also split Centaurium into four genera, with C. spicatum moving into Schenkia as S. spicata.

[5] Since Australian specimens were previously ascribed to Centaurium spicatum, they were referred to by that species' common name, Spike Centaury.

[1][4] It remains to be seen whether this common name will continue to be applied in Australia now that the Australian specimens have been segregated into their own species.