Its flowers are sweetly fragrant, red to orange in colour, occurring in dense, globular heads of approximately 5.5 cm (2.2 in) diameter.

[4][5] N. cadamba is native to the following areas: It is an introduced species in Puerto Rico at Toro Negro State Forest.

[7] The larvae of Moduza procris, a brush-footed butterfly, and Arthroschista hilaralis, a moth, consume this species.

In 1830, Achille Richard created the name Anthocephalus indicus, stating that the species came from Asia and that his description was based on the same specimen as Lamarck's Cephalanthus chinensis.

[8] (Under the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, Richard should have used the name A. chinensis rather than A. indicus, as he should not have changed the specific epithet.)

If specimens were the same, then Anthocephalus is a synonym of the Madagascan Cephalanthus and cannot be a generic name for the Asian kadam tree.

The timber is used for plywood, light construction, pulp and paper, boxes and crates, dug-out canoes, and furniture components.

The wood has a density of 290–560 kg/cu m at 15% moisture content, a fine to medium texture; straight grain; low luster and has no characteristic odor or taste.

It sheds large amounts of leaf and non-leaf litter which on decomposition improves some physical and chemical properties of soil under its canopy.

This reflects an increase in the level of soil organic carbon, cation-exchange capacity, available plant nutrients and exchangeable bases.

Kadamba flowers are an important raw material in the production of ‘attar’, which is Indian perfume with sandalwood (Santalum spp.)

[13] According to Hindu tradition the 27 nakshatras, constituting 12 Houses (Rasis) and nine planets, are specifically represented precisely by 27 trees —one for each star.

[15] In the Sangam period of Tamil Nadu, Murugan of Tirupparankundram Hill of Madurai was referred to as a centre of nature worship.

[16] An episode from the life of Krishna narrates of when he stole the garments of gopis when they were bathing in a pond near Vrindavan.

Varuna, the sea-god, had forbidden nude bathing in rivers, ponds and other public places, but gopis often resorted to it.

One day, to teach them a lesson, Krishna reached the bank of the pond where they were taking a bath and took away their garments and spread them on the branches of nearby kadamba tree.

[17] Karam-Kadamba is a popular harvest festival, celebrated on the eleventh lunar day of the month Bhadra.