The altitude range for this species is 900–1680 m.[6] The plant has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
[2] It is native to Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Caprivi Strip, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eswatini, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
[2] To attract birds the plant produces small, black, drupe-like fruits when pollinated.
[15] Rotheca myricoides is used in traditional medicine to manage diabetes in the lower eastern part of Kenya.
[16] This species is also used to treat epilepsy, arthritis, typhoid, cough, eye problems, tonsillitis, rheumatism, gonorrhoea,[17] cancer,[18] malaria,[19] dysmenorrhea, sterility, and impotence.
[20] In traditional medicine, European and African cultures used the bark of the species in its powdered form, and a teaspoon is used to treat snakebites.
[21] The Masai used the root bark for East Coast fever in cattle and diarrhea in their calves.
[21] The Haya and Shambala used Rotheca myricoides for dysmenorrhoea and cough, furunculosis and swellings that are associated with debility.
[21][21] In various African communities,The root of the plant is also used for chest pain, colds, gum bleeding indigestion, headaches, and bathing people with convulsions.
[23] A 2019 study looked at freeze-dried extracts of the Rotheca myricoides and found that they possess significant anti-hyperglycemic and antidyslipidemic effects on a type 2 diabetes rat model.
The antidyslipidemic effects included decreased total plasma cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, serum triglyceride and increased HDL-cholesterol.
Mey., Lamiaceae, Gladiolus dalenii van Geel, and Senna occidentalis (L.) Link) in a new COVID-19 therapeutic candidate called PHELA.
[27] Pseumenes depressus, the Asian hornet, and Xylocopa ruficeps all visit the Rotheca myricoides.
[27] The plant plays a significant role in its native ecosystems by supporting pollinators like butterflie and bees.