Pohlia drummondii has red stems (when moist) with cherry red (when fresh) bulbiform gemmae in the leaf axils. The gemmae look like small branches, with flexuose, laminate leaf primordia, and occur singly or occasionally in pairs in one to five distal leaf axils. The leaves of P. drummondii are carinate and can be similar to those of P. obtusifolia, but are not cucullate, and the plants are dioicous.