[2] It is mainly found in the tropics, ranging from Africa, India and southeast Asia, to Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, West Indies, Central, North and South America.

They grow in areas with more than 500 mm of mean annual rainfall and up to heights of 2000 m. It is commonly found in a variety of diverse habitats ranging from dry woodlands, hilly areas to coastal bushlands, along riverbanks, and mangroves[8] They are commonly found in poor and dry soil types.

[9] The branches form an arch downwards[7] and the branchlets have straight, thin spines that are 1 cm long, protruding out of it, and are coloured purple-red with a waxy bloom.

[9][10] Leaves are simple, alternate or clustered on spur shoots, having a lanceolate (spear-like) to elliptic (oval) shape, are either obtuse, emarginate or retuse at the apex, and have a texture similar to leather.

[7] Young fruits are green but turn golden-yellow or yellow (and rarely orangish-red) as they ripen,[11][9][10][12] climatic conditions do not affect their maturation.

[9][7] When ripe, the fruit has a green, juicy pulp, and one large endospermic seed, that has a small embryo and thin testa.

[7][14] Leaves collected from X. americana in southern Niger were found to be rich in calcium, iron, magnesium, and manganese content but were also noted to be lacking protein.

[7] The term Ximenia comes from the Spanish priest, Francisco Ximenez, who detailed a collection of plants found in Mexico in the 17th century.

"chabbuli" and "ysada" in west Africa, "ghène", "n'ghani" and "léaman" in Ivory Coast and "kleinsuurpruim", "inkoy", "mutente", "kol", "mulebe", "mungomba", "musongwasongwa", "mulutulwa", "museka", "ntogé", "nogbé", "séno", "séné", "madarud", and "madarau", in other regions in Africa.

[7] It is found in many habitats, predominantly in semi-arid bushlands and in dry and moist woodlands, sandy open woodlands, dry hilly areas, coastal bushlands, countrysides, shrub savannahs, forest lands and along watercourses such as riverbanks and stony slopes.

[9][5] It can also absorb nutrients and water from other plant species through its roots, however, it does not use this method as its mode of survival.

[7] Ximenia americana is a long-lived perennial[22] and is found present in savannahs, one of their natural habitats, and are vital food sources for animals living in the same habitats, namely mammals like giraffes, who depend on the leaves of X. americana for its food.

[13] The leaves are also eaten by insects, such as butterflies, and their larvae,[13] documented species being Axiocerses amanga (the bush scarlet), Stugeta bowkeri (the Bowker's sapphire) and Hypolycaena philippus (the purple-brown hairstreak).

This assessment was carried out by the IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group and the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) in 2018.

[13][28] Leaves at 100 ppm were noted to be fatal for the freshwater snail, Bulinus globus, the species responsible for causing the disease schistosomiasis.

[7] Ximenia americana can be utilized as a food source, mainly its fruit, which can be eaten raw or pickled, and can be used to replace lemon in fish recipes, make juice, jams or intoxicating drinks; In South Africa, a kind of beer is made from the fruits.

[7][12] Essential oils can also be obtained from the heartwood and flowers from X. americana, which are then used for fumigations and as a substitute for orange blossom respectively.

[29] Methods of using X. americana in traditional medicine include infusion, decoction, syrup, cataplasm, or as a tincture.