It is a tall shrub or small tree with egg-shaped, oblong to narrowly elliptic leaves, and male and female flowers on separate plants.

The leaves are leathery, have a prominent midvein and toothed edges.

[3] This species was first formally described in 1855 by Louis René Tulasne who gave it the name Mollinedia hugeliana in Annales des Sciences Naturelles.

[5][6] In 1868, Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle transferred the species to Wilkiea as W. hugeliana in Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.

[4] Veiny wilkiea grows in rainforest on the coast and ranges up to 900 m (3,000 ft),[3] and has a preference for volcanic soils.