It is a small, conical shaped shrub with glossy leaves, scaly branchlets and white flowers in winter and spring.

Nematolepis frondosa is a conical shaped shrub to 7 m (23 ft) high with branches usually spreading horizontally, branchlets densely covered in silvery or rusty coloured small scales.

[3][4][5] This species was first formally described in 1988 by Neville Walsh and David Albrecht, the description was published in the journal Muelleria from plant material collected at Mount Elizabeth and given the name Phebalium frondosum.

[8][9] Leafy nematolepis is an understory shrub with a restricted distribution, found at higher altitudes between Bruthen and Ensay in eastern Victoria in a variety of habitats, from lower rocky outcrops in scrub to upper slopes of Mount Elizabeth in tall forests.

[2][3] Nematolepis frondosa is listed as "vulnerable" under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, "threatened" under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and "vulnerable" on the Department of Sustainability and Environment's Advisory List of Rare Or Threatened Plants In Victoria.