The specific epithet canarioides is for the species' resemblance to the genus Canarium.

[2] Parinari canarioides grows up to 60 metres (200 ft) tall.

The dark red-brown bark is smooth, occasionally fissured.

[2] Parinari canarioides grows naturally in Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines and Sulawesi.

Its habitat is mixed dipterocarp forests from sea-level to 800 metres (2,600 ft) altitude.