The Mock Lime is native to Southern and Southeast Asia, Northern Australia and New Caledonia. A compact evergreen shrub that typically grows to 2.5 to 3.5 m tall, it can occasionally become a tree reaching up to about 12 m in height, as this remarkable specimen highlights.

Its compound leaves are alternate and pinnate, with three to seven dark green and glossy leaflets. Its small and white flowers are produced in abundance and have a very pleasant fragrance.

Birds like the Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier), Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis), and Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) are attracted by the fleshy and bright red fruit and help to disperse the seeds after feeding on the fruit.

The Mock Lime has a dense growth form and blooms year-round, making it an excellent hedge plant for screening.

This tree is estimated to be more than 70 years old, as it likely dates to the 1920s when the British military built the Fairy Point Chalets as residences for senior British officers. When endorsed as a Heritage Tree in 2019, it had a girth of 2 m.