Within the Malvaceae, Entelea is placed within tribe Sparrmannieae and subfamily Grewioideae, a position confirmed by ndhF DNA sequence data.

Whau has very lightweight wood, rivalling balsa (Ochroma pyramidale) for lightness, and less dense than cork ( about half the density).

[3] The wood was used by Māori to make pōito (fishing floats), kārewa (buoys) and mōkihi (rafts).

This is a characteristic shared with related plants including Sparrmannia, and causes there to be no distinct growth rings in the wood.The species is extremely light-demanding and is unable to live under an unbroken canopy.

from the sea (Waitākere Stream, near Auckland), nor higher than 350 m. Extreme minimum temperatures for localities where Entelea really thrives are always, so far as the records show, well above 0 °C.

The characteristics which cause it to be effective in such a role include: its ability to quickly occupy ground where light has been temporarily let into the forest; its tremendous rate of growth; its ability to rapidly produce fruit; its enormous seed production, especially as it is about to die; and the fact that its seeds are capable of germinating as soon as the capsules open.

In a study on Taranga (Hen Island), in favourable conditions whau was often the first new plant to appear, followed by Urtica ferox (tree nettle), Macropiper excelsum (kawakawa), Coprosma macrocarpa (coastal karamu) and Coprosma lucida (shiny karamu); forest-dominating trees were slower to come in – Corynocarpus (karaka) most quickly, followed by Beilschmiedia tawa (tawa).