Endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, it reaches a height of 18 m (60 ft) and has leaves that differ between the juvenile and adult forms.

It inhabits many different types of vegetation communities from near sea level to 270 m (886 ft), including swamps, cliffs, bogs, and shrublands.

A cladistic analysis in 2010 revealed through genetic sequencing that it was part of a paraphyletic group and not directly related to D. patens, as Oliver had suggested in his 1952 supplement, but to D. scoparium, as he had originally thought.

acerosum D. densum D. filifolium D. kirkii D. ophioliticum D. patens D. rosmarinifolium D. trimorphum D. arboreum D. longifolium D. muscoides D. pronum D. scoparium D. strictum D. fiordense D. menziesii D. latifolium D. townsonii D. traversii other Dracophyllum spp.

Although not a full description, he cited that the differences in foliage between the juvenile and adult forms where more than enough to classify it as separate from D. scoparium, despite their similar flowers.

[8] In Stephanus Venter's 2009 thesis and 2021 revision of the genus, this variant is listed as a synonym of D. arboreum, as is the Dracophyllum scoparium described by the German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller in 1864, though he accepts the one described by Hooker in the same year.

[2] In a 1952 supplement of the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, W. R. B. Oliver published a revised taxonomic arrangement of the genus Dracophyllum which he had first attempted in 1928.

[10][4] In 2010 several botanists, including Stephanus Venter, published an article on the genus Dracophyllum in the Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Typical vegetation in these areas is made up of forests, shrublands, bogs and grasslands, whilst the soil content is often boggy and peaty.

[5] The New Zealand Threat Classification System classified it in 2017 as "Naturally Uncommon", giving it an estimated area of inhabitation of 10 km2 (1,000 ha).

[15] To adapt to this D. arboreum has evolved to be heteroblastic, developing large leaves as juveniles which become thin, wind-resistant needles as they gain maturity.

[16] The Chatham Islands have never had these which means D. arboreum has likely evolved in this way due to climatic factors such as the wind; the thinner leaves reducing stress on the stalks.

[17][18] D. arboreum can also grow as an epiphyte, beginning its life typically in a tree fern, before extending its roots downwards and eventually gaining a trunk.

[13] D. arboreum can be cultivated from seed but will be difficult to maintain and prefers a damp, acidic, peaty soil – like its habitat on Chatham Island.