[3] It was first described by John Lindley in 1838 in Thomas Mitchell's Three Expeditions into the interior of Eastern Australia.

[1][2] The species epithet, bicornis, is derived from Latin bis ("twice") and cornu (''horn"),[4] and describes the plant as having two-horned burrs.

Sclerolaena bicornis is a complexly branched shrub, growing up to 50 cm high.

The branches are white and woolly, with widely spaced, slender, semi-terete leaves.

The fruiting perianth is woody with a thick white woolly covering except for the final part of the spines.