This upper growth springs up from a tuberous caudex which, according to Everett "may occupy a circle sixty feet [18 meters] in diameter".

[2] One tree of such a size—mentioned by Anglo-Argentine writer William Henry Hudson in his autobiography Far Away and Long Ago—was 50 feet (15 m) girth above the caudex.

[3] Another large specimen, observed in 1867 by David Christison, at Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina, measured "32 feet (9.8 m) in girth...clear of the projecting buttresses".

It is a symbol of Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul and Argentina, and of gaucho culture, as its canopy is quite distinguishable from afar and provides comfort and shelter from sun and rain.

Ombú has been declared as a minor invasive species (category 3) in South Africa, where it is widely planted.