 The species was first formally described by the botanist George Bentham in 1842 as a part of William Jackson Hookers' work "Notes on Mimoseae, with a synopsis of species" as published in the "London Journal of Botany".It was reclassified as "Racosperma obovatum" by Leslie Pedley in 2003 then transferred back to genus "Acacia" in 2006.It is native to a scattered area along the west coast in the South West, Peel and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia where it grows in lateritic soils.