[4] Gmelina arborea grows naturally throughout India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and in southern provinces of China.

[1] Since the 1960s, it has been introduced extensively as fast-growing timber trees in Brazil, Gambia, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Malawi, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone.

[5][6] The species is fast-growing and thus raised in large-scale plantations to produce wood for construction, crafts, paper pulp, fuel, and charcoal.

It produces high-quality wood used in the manufacture of furniture and to make plywood, matches and agricultural implements.

[12] Five constituents, isolated from the heartwood of G. arborea, (+)-7′-O-ethyl arboreol, (+)-paulownin, (+)-gmelinol, (+)-epieudesmin and (−)-β-sitosterol, show antifungal activity against Trametes versicolor.