 Flowering occurs throughout the year but most commonly from August to November and is followed by fruits which are dry, woody, oval shaped and long.The species was first formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller and the description was published in "Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land".The specific epithet ("freelingii") honours Arthur Henry Freeling, the Surveyor-General of South Australia from 1849 to 1861.