[16] However, its congener Durio zibethinus is the typical species eaten and dominates sales worldwide.

[citation needed] This species should not be confused with the popular durian clones from Malaysia known as 'Red Flesh' (D164) and 'Red Prawn' (D175), as both of those belong to D.

[8][7] After its initial description in 1889 by Odoardo Beccari, in 1924, Dutch botanist Reinier Cornelis Bakhuizen Van Den Brink reduced it to a synonym of D. conicus.

Indonesian botanists André Joseph Guillaume Henri Kostermans and Wertit Soegeng-Reksodihardjo separated D. graveolens back to its own species in 1958.

[25] Wild D. graveolens grows in Peninsular Malaysia[8][15][7][14] (states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Malacca, Penang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu), Indonesian Islands of Borneo[8][15][7][14] and Sumatra,[15][14][7][8] Palawan,[7] and Southern Thailand.

[2][8] They are perfectly rounded on both ends, rigid, and slightly coriaceous (leather-like in feel or texture).

[2] Underneath, the leaves are copper-brown and lepidote (scaly),[8] with large scales of up to 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter, which are not very noticeable, at least when dry.

[2] In addition to the scales, long strands of stellate hairs and other trichomes of varying size form a soft tomentose (fuzzy) surface.

[8] Leaves have 10–12 lateral veins per side (with some smaller ones intermixed), which are tiny and superficial above and more distinct, but still barely visible.

[29] Ovaries are ovoid to globose (roughly spherical) and possess a yellow capitate (shaped like a pinhead) stigma and white to greenish style[8] about 48 mm (1.9 in).

[8] Typically, it is found on clay-rich soils in wet lowland dipterocarp forests, frequently along riverbanks and swamps.

[8] Because of its tolerance for wet habitats,[15] it is possibly resistant to infection by the oomycete Phytophthora palmivora.

[30] As it is one of the only species to naturally hybridize with D. zibethinus,[7][8][33] they are thought to share a pollinator, likely the cave nectar bat (Eonycteris spelaea).

[35] After harvest, fruit can be set upon by fungi such as Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Glomerella cingulata, Geotrichum candidum, Calonectria kyotensis, and occasionally Gliocephalotrichum bulbilium.

[19] The fruit is fed on by Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus),[20] Prevost's squirrels (Callosciurus prevostii), crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), black hornbills (Anthracoceros malayanus), possibly viverrids[31] and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus).

[4] The fruit's pulp is typically eaten raw and has the fragrance of roasted almonds[8][7][19] or burnt caramel.

[8] The seeds can also be ground into flour (tepung biji durian dalit), which then can be used to make, for example, fish crackers.

[8] The Iban people there also bathe day-old infants (especially for preterm birth) in a tisane of mature bark, as they believe it strengthens the skin.