It is native to tropical Asia including southern China, Madagascar, northern Australia, and most of the atolls and high islands of Micronesia and Polynesia.

[5] In the Marshall Islands, corpses are washed in water soaked with the leaves of the tree heliotrope to mask smells.

[6] Octopus bush is used in many Pacific islands as a traditional medicine to treat ciguatera fish poisoning, which is caused by powerful ciguatoxins produced by microscopic Gambierdiscus algae.

The tree is also a drought resistant variety, allowing it to survive the subtropical dry season of the South Pacific.

These factors, plus the roots of H. arboreum taking hold in the sand, help stabilize the shore, mitigating coastal erosion.