Various parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine, but there is no scientific evidence it is effective or safe for treating any disease.

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous shrub or tree, ranging from 3–15 m (10–49 ft) in height[2] but also reaching up to 18 m.[3] The bark is smooth, yellowish-brown and about 10 mm thick, producing a milky-white latex.

[3] In his 1862 book on timber trees of South Asia, Edward Balfour mentions its distribution across the then Madras Presidency of British India especially in the Coimbatore jungles, and reports that it was "very common in all forests of Bombay".

[4] In the same book, Balfour quotes William Roxburgh's comparison of the whiteness of the wood as "coming nearer to ivory than any I know".

Earlier in 1824, the plant specimens were presented by the British East India Company to the Royal Horticultural Society as illustrated and recorded in botanical register founded by Sydenham Edwards and at the time published by James Ridgway.

[5] The plant contains wrightial, a triterpenoid phytochemical,[6] along with cycloartenone, cycloeucalenol, β-amyrin, and β-sitosterol isolated from the methanol extract of the immature seed pods.

The following are considered to be synonyms of Wrightia tinctoria:[7] It is mainly found in Australia, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor and Vietnam.

The white wood is used for turnery, carving, toy making, matchboxes, small boxes and furniture.