Bush or treelet 1.5-6m high. Branches bearing short, thorn-ended twigs. Leaves bipinnate, 3-10cm long, with 5-10 pairs of pinnae, each one with 10-30 pairs of folioles 3-6mm long. Spikes 3-8cm long, upper florets sulphur-yellox or yellow, the basal ones neutral, with long lilac-pink staminodes. Pods crowded, glomerate, ondulate and contorted, dark brown. Seeds obovate, dark brown, 4mm long.

Seeds survive long in the soil. The growth of the plants is very fast. Young plants may produce seeds. Adult plants can survive a very long time, producing seeds almost all year long.

Seeds, root cuttings, root suckering.
Each plant produces a large number of seeds per year, almost all year long.

Causes losses in agricultural production. Management involves frequent, heavy and expensive work.

Preventative measures: A Risk Assessment of Dichrostachys cinerea for Hawai‘i and other Pacific islands was prepared by Dr. Curtis Daehler (UH Botany) with funding from the Kaulunani Urban Forestry Program and US Forest Service. The alien plant screening system is derived from Pheloung et al. (1999) with minor modifications for use in Pacific islands (Daehler et al. 2004). The result is a score of 16 and a recommendation of: \"Likely to cause significant ecological or economic harm in Hawai‘i and on other Pacific Islands as determined by a high WRA score, which is based on published sources describing species biology and behaviour in Hawai‘i and/or other parts of the world.\"

\r\nPhysical: Cutting and burning of the plants is not a very efficient control method, since the seeds survive in the soil, and the growth is very fast.

\r\nChemical: Use of dangerous herbicides is often necessary.