Small shrubs 1-2 m tall with a flattened top, hence triangular funnel-shaped in vertical profile, with numerous grey branches starting from soil surface ; spines straight, ca. 2 cm long, hard, white with a brown tip, grouped in pairs on a strong basal peduncle. Leaves ca 3 cm long, with 3-12 pairs of pinnae having 5-15 pairs of leaflets each. Flowers whitish, very fragrant, clustered in balls of 1-3 in the axil of spines on a short peduncle not exceeding 1.3 cm. Pods flat elongated-ellipsoid in shape acute at both ends with a sub-mucronate tip, 5-10 cm long by 1.2-1.3 cm wide. Seeds of an olive-green color, numbering 5-10 per pod.