A medium to large tree that can reach a height of 10 m, with an average of 4-7 m in height. The crown is somewhat flattened or rounded, with a moderate density. The branches have a tendency to droop downwards if the crown is roundish. The bark is blackish grey or dark brown in mature trees and deeply grooved, with longitudinal fissures. The young branches are smooth and grey to brown in colour. The young twigs are covered in short hairs. Paired, slender, straight spines grow from a single base and sometimes curve backwards, are up to 80 mm long and whitish but often reddish brown in colour.

The leaves are twice compound, i.e. they consist of 5-11 feather-like pairs of pinnae; each pinna is further divided into 7-25 pairs of small, elliptic leaflets that can be bottle to bright green in colour. The leaf stalks are heavy. Very small glands, almost not noticeable with the naked eye, can be found at the base of most of the upper pinnae pairs.

It bears single to several, bright, golden yellow, globose, scented inflorescences between the leaves. The flower stalks are hairy. It flowers mainly from September-January, but it depends on the rainy season. The pods are very characteristic, resembling a beaded necklace. The pods are flat, straight or slightly curved, and fleshy when young with reddish hairs, becoming dark blackish when mature, deeply constricted between each seed and they do not split open, but break up transversely on the ground into single-seeded segments during March to September. The pods are sweetly scented when crushed and contain a sticky fluid.