The tree is common in the tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests of Pacific and Atlantic watersheds of Central and South America, extending as far north as Guatemala and south into Ecuador.

Older flowers turn pink and develop a strong clove-like fragrance.

Fruit-eating bats pick the fruit of the wild cashew and transport it to their feeding places, where they eat only the fleshy part.

The nuts are dropped into the leaf litter of the forest floor, where they later germinate.

When uncooked, the fruit (both the nut and the surrounding fleshy part) is highly toxic to humans.