It is endemic to the Western Ghats, India,[2] where it is frequent in the mid-elevation wet evergreen forests[3] and an important food tree of hornbills.

The species has been earlier misidentified in regional floras and herbarium specimens as Myristica dactyloides Gaertn., the latter occurring only in Sri Lanka.

When ripe, the capsule dehisces open to reveal the single egg-shaped or ellipsoid dark brown seed covered in a bright orange red, deeply laciniate aril.

[2] M. b. sphaerocarpa differs from M. b. beddomei in its leaf size (7–10 × 3–5.5 cm), having 7–10 pairs of lateral veins (versus 12–20 in the former), and globose shape to the fruits and seeds, besides having a 4 mm thick pericarp.

[7][9] The species is found along the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra, in subtropical and tropical wet evergreen forests, in sholas and occasionally in Myristica swamps.

[2][4][5] The species occurs as sub-canopy trees in tropical wet evergreen forests from the foothills to an elevation of 1500 m.[9] In the Anaimalai Hills, the species is reported to range between 500 m and 1400 m in elevation, evenly and sparsely distributed through mature rainforests but also occurring in transitional forest zones.