It normally grows about 30 centimetres (10 in) tall, although in shaded, ungrazed conditions it may reach 1 metre (40 in).

The flowers are yellow, 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) long, with the typical pea-flower structure; they are produced principally in the late summer and autumn, rarely before July.

The fruit is a legume (pod), partly enclosed by the pale brown remnants of the flower.

Due to its relatively soft spines, dwarf furze is readily grazed by livestock and wild herbivores.

The distributions of dwarf furze and its close relative western gorse (Ulex gallii) hardly overlap, even in similar habitats.