 The foliage is usually lobed with sharp points on the lobes but some populations have leaves with nearly entire leaf margins.The species was formally described in 1838 by English botanist John Lindley in "Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia" based on plant material collected from Mount William in the Grampians by Thomas Mitchell.Mitchell commented that the species was "a remarkable kind with leaves like those of a European holly, but downy".