This large, fast-growing tree from the birch family is native to the forests from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, where it grows at heights of 1200 to 3200 m. It is very valued for its light-colored but hard wood, for stabilizing river beds, as a windbreak and in forestry; but sometimes it is also planted as an ornament. In cultivation, it thrives best in the cooler tropics, but it also grows in most warm-temperate locations unless these have extremely hot summers.
 In Malaysia, the Pacific Islands, Australia and the Antilles, the tree is popular in shipbuilding because of the resistance and quality of its wood.