A spreading or upright shrub to 2 m tall. Leaves spirally arranged, 0.5-2 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, linear-oblong, close-set and upward-pointing, leathery, pointed or blunt, with a thick leaf stalk, margins thickened, midrib prominent. Seeds ovoid to 5.5 mm long, the receptacle bright red.

Occurs naturally on edges of high forests and in alpine and subalpine scrub at alt. 600-1500 m, more rarely in lowland forest. A range of seedling cultivar selections have been raised recently in the United Kingdom from seed collected in the wild.

NZ.

VIC: Mt Dandenong Arboretum.

Source: Spencer, R. (1995). Podocarpaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 1, Ferns, conifers & their allies. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.