"Ocotea foetens" is endemic to Macaronesia. Like the other species of the genus "Ocotea", it is rich in essential oils, which give an unpleasant odor to the wood when freshly cut (hence the name "foetens", Latin for "smelly, stinky, disgusting, unpleasant"). It is rarely used as an ornamental. It is an evergreen tree generally up to in height, although some specimens may reach . It commonly grows with multiple trunks branched from the base. The bark is rough and irregular, and dark in colour; the young branches are angular, with smooth bark, sometimes reddish in areas of recent growth. The wood is dark and hard.