Gyrocarpus americanus is a flowering plant in the Hernandiaceae family, with a wide pantropical distribution.

The leaves are spirally arranged, crowded near the ends of the branches, and grow up to 150 × 120 mm in size.

Kubitzki distinguished eight – three in Madagascar, one each in tropical West and East Africa, one in tropical Australia, and one in Malesia, with the eighth being the typical subspecies G. a. americanus originating in the Palaeotropics and reaching the Neotropics by trans-Pacific dispersal.

Moreover, the monophyly of G. americanus remains unclear; the African species G. angustifolius and G. hababensis may lie within it.

[4] Tongan children play with its winged seeds (puko vili); its timber is an occasional vaka building material, an infusion of its bark can be drunk to cure stomach pains.