Tree to 40 m tall; trunk to 1 m diam. Bark densely covered with nodules or tubercles. Foliage trimorphic; leaves on orthotropic shoots spirally arranged, acute, pungent, keeled, narrowly triangular, 3–10 mm long; leaves on juvenile plagiotropic shoots subopposite, distichous, linear to narrowly triangular, 2–8 cm long, 2–5 mm wide, chartaceous, rounded or obtuse, deep green above, glaucous below, hypostomatic; leaves on adult, plagiotropic shoots subopposite, tetrastichous, narrowly oblong, 1–4 cm long, 4–8 mm wide, coriaceous, rounded, dull pale to mid-green, unequally amphistomatic. Male cones to 10.9 cm long, 19 mm diam. Female cones 5–8 cm diam.; bract scales flattened, laterally winged, 8–12 mm long, 7–12 mm wide, 3–5 mm thick, with a narrowly triangular, apical extension 5–10 mm long; seeds pale brown, 4–7 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, 4–6 mm wide including wing. Cotyledons 12–20 mm long, 2–5 mm wide.
Plants are emergent trees above warm-temperate coachwood-sassafras rainforest, in a deep, sheltered gorge surrounded by sandstone cliffs.
Cultivated as a botanical curiosity and ornamental, featured as a 'Living Fossil', 'Dinosaur' or 'Living Relic' tree; used as a native Christmas Tree. Wollemia nobilis appears on an Australian 50c postage stamp issued 8 August 2005.
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