Shrub or small tree developing a rounded canopy and growing 5-10 m tall, with ridged, waxy branchlets. Leaves grey-blue, bipinnate. Pinnae short-stalked, of 2-6 pairs (the lowest pair very short), each having 12-20 pairs of tiny leaflets 5-8 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, flat and slightly curved. Flower clusters axillary, longer than the leaves. Flower heads globular; winter to spring. Fruit pods 5-12 cm long, 8-15 mm wide, flattish, mealy-grey when young.
NSW (Cootamundra and Wagga Wagga area). Widely naturalised in all states except WA and NT. A. pubescens (Vent.) R. Br. from NSW has pale green leaves with 3-10 pairs of pinnae each 1-2 cm long, and branchlets covered with stiff hairs.
Blue-grey bipinnate leaves.
VIC: Balwyn (Maranoa Gds); Burnley (College grounds).
Source: (2002). Mimosaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
Plant prostrate. Can be propagated with moderate success from seed.
Foliage with a purplish tinge most noticeable on the new growth.