The male plant's strobilus, or cone, is oblong-ellipsoidal, 30–60 cm (12–24 in) long, orange in colour and foetid in odour.

The female's megasporophylls are about 30 cm long, fleshy, brown and densely hairy, with the fertile area about 35 mm (1.4 in) wide.

[2][3] The cycad's range is centred on the Maluku Islands, extending northwards to Sulawesi, eastwards to New Guinea, and westwards to Java and southern Borneo.

[1] C. rumphii is part of a species complex which also includes C. circinalis from India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and southern China, and C. thouarsii from the Seychelles, Madagascar and eastern Africa.

[5] Although the species is locally abundant, it is assessed as near threatened because it has undergone habitat loss across its range, and the population trend is decreasing.