The holes provide a habitat for giant damselflies and other insects both when alive and once the tree has died and fallen over.

Three new chemical compounds have been isolated from the leaves and they form part of the diet of several monkeys and the squirrel Sciurus ingrami.

Despite having holes in its trunk which should encourage debris and seeds to collect, hemiepiphytes are relatively uncommon, meaning that animals are not attracted to it to feed and then defecate.

[14] In 1917 Henri François Pittier described Platypodium maxonianum from Chiriquí, Panama, noting that it differed from Vogel's description of P. elegans as it had larger leaves and fruits.

In Brazil it has several names: amendoim-do-campo, amendoim-bravo, jacarandá-branco, jacarandá-bana, jacarandá-do-campo, jacarandazinho, jacarandá-tã, faviero, secupiruna and uruvalheira.

[18] Platypodium elegans is found in the rainforests and savannah of the Neotropics, ranging from Panama in the North, to Paraguay in the South.

[21] On Barro Colorado Island (BCI) P. elegans is found at a moderate abundance in both old and young forest, each hectare may contain several mature trees, but it is not unusual to find isolated individuals.

Hufford and Hamrick suggested that they abort fruit for two reasons; they could have a set amount of resources to invest in their seeds in one year but produce extra flowers which then compete between each other, with only some surviving to maturity.

[27] As in all legumes, the roots of P. elegans are colonised by nitrogen fixing bacteria, in this case from the genus Bradyrhizobium.

Genetic analysis of the bacteria has shown that different genotypes colonise the roots of the same tree and are strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum.

[28] The epiphytic cactus Epiphyllum phyllanthus is particularly abundant in the canopies of P. elegans on BCI particularly growing in cavities in the trunk.

[29] Another cactus, Rhipsalis baccifera, and the ferns Niphidium crassifolium and Campyloneurum phyllitidis are also found growing on P. elegans.

After rainfall, the bark stores around one third of a gram of water per cm2 which epiphytes can then absorb, a moderate amount compared to other trees.

[31] A survey of 20 trees on BCI with a diameter at breast height of 20 cm or more found that 75% had lianas growing on them.

An experiment, where leaves of P. elegans were added to an artificial pool containing 650 ml of water in the rainforest, found that 17 species lived in them, with the mosquito Culex mollis being the most abundant.

[32] The beetle Microvelia cavicola also lives in the water-filled holes, with the type specimen of the species being found in one.

[33] The embryos of immature fruit are eaten by agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata) once they have fallen to the forest floor.

[34] Woolly spider monkeys in Brazil feed extensively on the leaves in October, prior to the beginning of their mating season.

The leaves are thought to be low in tannins and other secondary metabolites which hinder protein digestion, making them an ideal food before the mating season.

[38] The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute herbarium report its wood is used for timber,[20] being described as "white, knotty, light and fragile".