It is a late succession plant, and supports a variety of insect herbivores, including caterpillars from the moth Homona mermerodes.

The species is a late succession plant, most common in primary forest, but also in old secondary growth.

The plant is a host for a variety of insect herbivores, that include adult and larvae leaf-chewers and leaf-miners.

Smith primarily worked on orchids, but described many other plants, including Euphorbiaceae.

His description of M. novoguineensis was in 1912 in the publication Nova Guinea; a Journal of Botany, Zoology, Anthropology, Ethnography, Geology and Palaeontology of the Papuan Region (Leiden).