Acacia tortilis is an evergreen, flowering, single-trunked, large perennial shrub or small tree with a flat-topped, wide-spreading, dense canopy. A tough plant. The bark is thin and smooth, marked by numerous small scars and cracks. Leaves are small, bipinnate, and hairy with 2-4 pairs of pinnate, oblong and acute leaflets.
Flowers are white to pale cream growing in small spherical heads and appearing from spring to summer. The fruit is a yellow-brown twisted pod. Grows 5-7m tall with a spread of 8-12m and a trunk diameter of 40-50cm. Noted as reaching 20m tall in its native habitat. Medium growth rate of 50-60cm p/a.
