It is endemic to the western coastal region of Madagascar, occurring in the Baie de Baly National Park.

Erythrophleum couminga is a moderate-sized deciduous tree which grows to a height of up to 20 m (66 ft).

It grows in mixed deciduous woodland and wooded savannas, in association with palm trees, preferring sandy soils.

[3] The bark contains complex diterpenoid alkaloids and is powdered and used in traditional medicine in very small quantities as a laxative.

[3] In the past, the bark has been used as a poison in trials by ordeal,[2] a custom continuing in Madagascar into the mid-nineteenth century.