It is distinguished from Prumnopitys ferruginea (miro) by the shorter, more slender leaves and the globose violet-purple cones.

Unlike the related miro (Prumnopitys ferruginea), mataī has a distinctive and long-lasting juvenile stage.

The juvenile is a shrub with a tangle of slender, flexible, divaricating branchlets interspersed with a scattering of brown, pale yellow, or dirty white leaves.

After a number of years, the adult tree begins to grow out of the top of the juvenile shrub and then the divaricating branchlets will wither and drop off.

[3][4] Mataī are the host plant for caterpillars of the New Zealand endemic moth species Pyrgotis zygiana.