Hakea ferruginea is an erect, rounded, non-lignotuberous shrub which typically grows to a height of 1 to 4.5 metres (3 to 15 ft). The branchlets are hairy and the leaves are arranged alternately.^[3] The pale green leaf blade is flat, narrowly to broadly egg-shaped or elliptic and is 1.5 to 8.5 centimetres (0.6 to 3.3 in) in length and 1.2 to 2.7 cm (0.47 to 1.06 in) wide.^[4] It blooms from July to November and produces white-cream flowers.^[3] The solitary inflorescences contain 16 to 20 flowers with a cream-white perianth. After flowering obliquely ovate shaped beaked fruit that are 2 to 3.1 cm (0.79 to 1.22 in) in length and 1.1 to 1.8 cm (0.43 to 0.71 in). The black to brown seeds within have a narrowly ovate or elliptic shape with a wing down one edge.^[4]

Hakea ferruginea was first formally described by the botanist Robert Sweet in 1827 and the description was published in Flora Australasica.^[5][6] Hakea repanda R.Br. is a synonym.^[7][8] The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "rust-coloured" or "rusty",^[9] referring to the colour of new growth.^[4]

Rusty hakea is found in a small area in the Wheatbelt and an area along the south coast of the Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia where it grows in sandy, rocky loam or clay soils.^[3] The shrub is often part of mallee heath or open forest communities.^[4]

Hakea ferruginea is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.^[3]