The fruit is a drupe 9 mm long, red or yellow, less commonly purple when ripe.

Research in New Zealand has shown that the eating of the seeds by kiore (Pacific rats) substantially reduces the population of the tree.

Three years after the eradication of kiore from Cuvier Island, seedlings of N. apetala became common near mature trees.

However, the scarcity of fruiting trees on modified islands slows seed dispersal and population recovery.

Nestegis apetala is an attractive small tree noted for its hard timber.