This species is widespread and morphologically somewhat variable. Van Beusekom (1967) included these plants in his broad circumscription of Gaertnera vaginans, as subsp. junghuhniana, but G. vaginans is here recognized as a species restricted to Sri Lanka (Malcomber & Taylor 2009).
Southeastern Asia, in Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra (Indonesia), Borneo in Brunei, Kalimantan (Indonesia), and Sarawak (Malaysia), and Sulawesi (Indonesia), in humid forests at 0-1500 m.