Acacia rigens, commonly known as nealie, is an erect or spreading shrub or small tree that is endemic to Australia. Other common names include needle wattle, needlebush acacia, nealia and nilyah. Plants grows to between 1 and 6 metres high and have rigid, terete phyllodes that are between 3 and 13 cm long. The bright yellow flowerheads appear in groups of up to four in the axils of the phyllodes. These appear between July and December in the species' native range, followed by curled, twisted or coiled seed pods which are 4 to 10 cm long and 2 to 3 mm wide.