A medium-sized deciduous tree growing to a height of about 27 m (90 ft), it is native to the rainforests of northern Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

[1] It grows in areas of rainforest that are frequently inundated, often in association with the fan palm Mauritia carana in bogs that are flooded all year round.

The tree is tapped for the production of rubber but is not widely grown as a plantation crop, although occasionally cultivated in Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

It has been used in breeding programmes for increasing the disease resistance and improving the growth qualities of H. brasiliensis.

The seeds contain toxic substances and are poisonous to humans when raw, but they are eaten by local people when thoroughly cooked.