[citation needed] Due to its toxicity and poor lightfastness, gamboge is no longer used in paints, though limited use continues in other contexts.

Though used in a number of different contexts, Gamboge is known not to react well with citric acid surfaces[clarification needed] therefore making it unsuitable for frescos and with white lead.

[5]: 170  Some historians speculate small shipments of the pigment were able to be distributed in European contexts due to the occasional over-land trade journeys made from Asia to Europe.

[citation needed] The pigment is derived from the gum of a species of evergreen of the family Guttiferae which grows in southeast Asia, primarily Cambodia and Thailand.

[2]: 149  In fact, Gamboge gets its name from a now-antiquated name for Cambodia, Camboja, though it was also referred to as gama gitta in some 17th century European color manuals.

[6] Gamboge is most often extracted by tapping latex (sometimes incorrectly referred to as sap) from various species of evergreen trees of the family Clusiaceae (also known as Guttiferae).

[2]: 152–153 Gamboge has been identified as the underlying gold paint in the Maitepnimit Temple in Thailand as well as having featured in the Medieval Armenian Glajor Gospel.