[2] Scattered individuals or small groups of trees naturally occur from the Illawarra district of New South Wales (34½° S) to near Proserpine in tropical Queensland.

The white beech or grey teak is a fast-growing tree, growing on volcanic and alluvial soils in areas of moderate to high rainfall.

Unlike the Australian red cedar, the white beech has not recovered particularly well after logging in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This species was first described by Ferdinand von Mueller as Vitex leichhardtii in 1862, based on material collected near Myall Creek by Ludwig Leichhardt, and near the Clarence River by Dr. Hermann Beckler.

[4] White beech was previously classified in the Verbenaceae, but its genus and many others have been transferred into the mint family Lamiaceae.

The bark varies from light to dark grey and has a scaled surface with vertical cracks marking sections of trunk.

[7] Considered by some to be a semi-deciduous species, losing part of the canopy in late spring.

Branchlets are thick, grey or brown and hairy, with easily visible leaf scars.

The locality of Broughtonvale (34½° S), near Berry, New South Wales is considered by Anders Bofeldt as the southern limit of natural distribution.

Boland considers the far more southerly Clyde River, New South Wales (35° S) near Batemans Bay to be the southern limit of distribution.

There are isolated occurrences in central-northern Queensland in the Eungella Range and on Mt Elliot near Townsville.

The usual habitat is subtropical rainforest, where trees occur singly or in small stands of up to five individuals scattered through the forest, associated with such trees as yellow carabeen (Sloanea woollsii), red carabeen (Geissois benthamiana), Queensland kauri pine (Agathis robusta), golden sassafras (Doryphora sassafras), black booyong (Argyrodendron actinophyllum) and white booyong (A. trifoliolatum), as well as members of the genus Flindersia.

[4] Around Easter time, seeds mature within a fleshy bluish or purple drupe 2 to 3 centimetres in diameter.

Trying to open the hard nut in the middle of the fruit, or hitting the capsule with a hammer has proven useless.