In its natural environment Podocarpus henkelii is a tall to very tall, straight stemmed forest tree, reaching 20 to 30 m in height. In time, its trunk can grow to massive proportions, reaching over 1m in diameter, becoming fluted and spirally twisted with age. It is an evergreen tree with a dark grey to pale grey-brown, longitudinally fissured bark. In older trees this bark sometimes peels off in large pieces, exposing a red-brown under-surface.

It has grey and ridged branchlets and the young shoots are pale green and angular. The leaves are simple, short stalked, lanceolate-oblong, 9-12cm long, sharp pointed, with entire and slightly revolute (rolled under) margins. They are spirally arranged, often crowded at the end of the branchlets, and more or less pendulous. The longer, droopy leaves make it easy to distinguish this species from the other yellowwoods growing in South Africa. Podocarpus henkelii has straight or somewhat falcate (sickle-shaped) leaves, hence it was once called the falcate yellowwood. This name had to be dropped because it was confused with Podocarpus falcatus, the Outeniqua yellowwood. The leaves of Henkel's yellowwood are bright green to bluish green and glossy above, dull green with a prominent midrib below. The young leaves are pale green and soft.

This handsome tree is dioecious, i.e. it has male and female reproductive organs on separate plants. Yellowwoods belong to a primitive group of plants called the Gymnospermae. Gymnosperms, often called conifers, are cone-bearing plants, distinguished from the other major plant group, the Angiospermae or flowering plants, as their ovules and resultant seeds are borne unprotected in the cone whereas in angiosperms the ovules and seeds are protected in an ovary. Other gymnosperms include cycads, pines and cypresses.

Male Podocarpus henkelii cones are erect, pink, and 2-3cm long and are solitary or in clusters of up to 5. Female cones are solitary, but shortly stalked. The seed is large and roundish and 1,5-2cm in diameter and olive green to yellowish green when ripe.

Podocarpus henkelii is moderately drought-resistant and frost hardy. This is a highland forest species that grows best on moist sites with high rainfall and deep doleritic soils.