A handsome, often rather small tree with hand-sized fruits. The fruits are edible, but also apparently contain air pockets and float on ocean water and their seeds remain viable for some time (Razafimandimbison et al., 2010). Morinda citrifolia is characteristically found growing at the edge of the forest on tropical ocean beaches, and presumably disperses naturally to these areas. It is widely known, but usually documented by few specimens in a given region and sometimes overlooked. This is the most widely distributed and commonly encountered species of the genus, and has marked morphological variation in southeastern Asia with some plants developing showy calycophylls (or petaloid bracts), and variation in fruit size. The fruits of Morinda citrifolia are sometimes eaten locally, and the plant is cultivated widely and commerically for its fruits but in those cases, these are used to make an extract that is considered medicinally valuable or a tonic (Razafimandimbsion et al., 2010). 

Morinda citrifolia is similar in the Neotropics to Morinda panamensis; see Lorence et al. (2012) for their distinctions, which can be subtle.