"Manilkara rufula", along with some of its tree species associates ("Podocarpus sellowii", "Prunus sphaerocarpa", for example) is a remnant of an earlier climatological regime, when the northeast region as a whole was far moister than most of it is today.A prisoner both geographically and genetically, "M. rufula" is prevented from further spread by the less-than-ideal arid growing conditions all around it.