Pendressia wardellii is a tall shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of 4–20 m (13–66 ft).

[3][4] This species was first formally described in 1866 by Ferdinand von Mueller who gave it the name Mollinedia wardellii in his Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae from specimens collected near Rockingham Bay by John Dallachy.

[5][6] In 1898, Janet Russell Perkins transferred the species to Wilkiea as W. wardellii[7] and in 2018 Trevor Paul Whiffin placed it in the new monotypic genus Pendressia as P.

[2] The specific epithet (wardellii) honours von Mueller's friend, William Wardell.

[6] Pendressia wardellii grows in rainforest at altitudes between 1,000 and 1,260 m (3,280 and 4,130 ft) on the Windsor, Mount Carbine and northern Atherton Tablelands in north-east Queensland.