[6] Common names by which the tree is known include: buku Tetun, Timor;[7] janti, sempu Jawa;[4] l've/lve,[3][8] chhë muëy rô:y,[3] pheng,[4] rovey,[9] muoy roy sratoap[8] Khmer; 小花五桠果;[10] xiǎo huā wǔ yā guǒ (small-flowered five tree forks fruit)[4] Chinese; ส้านช้าง sanchang, IPA: [saːn tɕʰaːŋ] Thai;[10] korkotta Bengali;[4] akshi Assam; aggai, kallai Hindi; aksikiphal, punnaga Sanskrit; agaai, taatarii,[4] tatri chinnakalinga[5] Nepali; karmal Gujarati and Marathi;[4][5] rai Oriya; kanigala, kadu-kanigala Kannada; പട്ടിപ്പുന്ന,[10] punna, kodapunna[5] Malayalam; ravudana Telugu;[5] பஞ்சகன்னி உவா,[10] naytekku,[4] kanigala[5]Tamil; dog teak English;[10] dillenia; Nepali elephant apple The tree grows in the following places: Lesser Sunda Islands including Timor, Sulawesi, Jawa, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Hainan, South-Central China including Yunnan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Assam, East Himalaya, Bhutan, Nepal, India (from Punjab and Gujarat to Assam, Mizoram, Maharashtra, West Bengal and South India), and Sri Lanka.

In Phnom Kulen National Park, Siem Reap Province, northwestern Cambodia, the tree is a common canopy species in the Deciduous Dipterocarp Forest.

Amongst the Tetun speaking practitioners of the ai tahan traditional medicine, in Belu Regency, Timor Barat, Indonesia, the bark is used to treat headaches and migraines.

The Bunong people of Mondulkiri Province, northeastern Cambodia, drink a decoction of the bark and wood of both this tree and Oroxylum indicum to treat cold and fever.

[12] Amongst Kuy- and Khmer-speaking people living in the same villages in Stung Treng and Preah Vihear provinces of north-central Cambodia, the tree is used as source of medicine, fuel and food.