[4] T. grandis is endemic to eastern and south-eastern China; it is found in the coastal provinces Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, as well as in Anhui, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi inland.

Its natural habitat are mountains and open valleys, often by streams, between 200 and 1,400 metres (660 and 4,590 ft) ASL.

In traditional Chinese medicine, T. grandis has the effects of "eliminating malnutrition" (消除疳積), "moisturizing the lungs and smoothing the intestines" (潤肺滑腸), "resolving phlegm and relieving cough" (化痰止咳), "treating five hemorrhoids and removing three intestinal parasites" (治五痔，去三蟲), "beneficial to muscles and bones" (助筋骨), and so on.

In addition, the paclitaxel in leaves, bark, and arils can be used to treat a number of types of cancer.

[4] T. grandis was recorded in the first surviving Chinese dictionary, Erya, as early as the 2nd century BC.

[3] The first European to discover Torreya grandis was Robert Fortune, who was hiking in the mountains of northeast Zhejiang in search of seeds, particularly those of the "golden pine-tree" (Larix kaempferi).

[9] In 2013 the United Nations granted status as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System to the "Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community," which is located in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province.