It is a tree native to northern South America, from Colombia and Venezuela to Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and northeastern Argentina.

It reaches 25–40 m (82–131 ft) in height, with a slightly tortuous and very long trunk, with fins at the base.

The legume fruit is 4 cm (1.6 in) long, with 2-3 seeds, which are 5 mm (0.20 in) and difficult to extract.

In Colombia there is the maquí, whose sawdust (from wood) produces rasquiña and belongs to the genus Apuleia and grows in the middle Magadalena region and the Uraba region, its specific gravity is similar to 1 g / cm3.

[citation needed] Apuleia leiocarpa was first described by Julius Rudolph Theodor Vogel in 1919 and published in contributions from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University.