Exell in honour of the first European botanist to collect and describe Kakadu plum, Ferdinand Mueller, who had originally given the species the nomen illegitimum (illegitimate name), Terminalia edulis.

[4][8] It grows in a variety of habitat including sandplains, floodplains, creek beds, ridges, among vine thickets and on the edges of areas of mangroves.

It grows in sandy, peaty or clay soils around sandstone or ironstone,[4] and is often found as part of eucalypt communities.

[11][12][13][14][15] The tree is particularly valued as a medicine by the Aboriginal peoples of the region, who use the inside of the bark for treating various skin ailments and infections.

[17][19] Because of its potential for varied uses as a food, cosmetic ingredient or preservative, there has been a need to manage its growth in the wild, and in addition, efforts have been made to involve Indigenous groups in the growing industry.

In the closely related Kunwinjku language of West Arnhem Land, the word is manmorlak, or mandjiribidj in the Kuninjku dialect.