It has a tall, straight trunk, with a wider base that gradually narrows to display more or less pyramidal foliage. The leaves are light green with a herbaceous texture and in a pendulous arrangement very reminiscent of poplar leaves, hence the specific name of populneus. In its place of origin it lives primarily in dry, rocky areas, but it is also found following water courses.

In Australia they make the most of the tree: they give the young branches to livestock when the pastures dry up, they eat the raw and toasted seeds and extract a drink similar to coffee, from the fibres in the trunk they make fishing nets and in the past the aborigines used to eat the roots.