[3] It is a woody shrub usually found in the understorey of rainforests and subalpine forests in the Central Plateau and western Tasmania.

[3] Its leaves are at alternate at right angles to the stem, 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long, with 5-7 veins visible from the underside of the leaf, the lower surface, with a lighter shade of green.

[3] The purplish blue-black fruit is present year-round and is described as round flattened mauve drupes about 10 mm (0.39 in) in diameter.

[3][5] This species was first formally described in 1839 by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, who gave it the name Decaspora cunninghami in his Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis,[6][7] and in 1963 was transferred to the genus, Trochocarpa as T. cunninghamii by Winifred Curtis.

[8][9] The specific epithet (cunninghamii) honours English botanist Allan Cunningham, who circumnavigated Australia between 1816 and 1839 to collect plants.