 Queensland botanist Les Pedley reclassified the species as "Racosperma denticulosum" in 2003, in his proposal to reclassify almost all Australian members of the genus into the new genus "Racosperma", however this name is treated as a synonym of its original name.Sandpaper wattle grows as a spindly shrub with an open habit from high and wide.Young stems are rough and warty, as are the dark green phyllodes.