Colubrina arborescens is an evergreen shrub with multiple stems, or a tree with a spreading crown; it sometimes grows as tall as 25 metres but is more commonly 3 - 4.5 metres tall. The bole can be as little as 5cm in diameter, but in larger trees is 20 - 30cm.
Colubrina is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia, northern Australia, and the Indian Ocean islands. Common names include nakedwood, snakewood, greenheart and hogplum. The generic name is derived from the Latin word coluber, meaning "snake", and refers to the snake-like stems or stamens. The species are shrubs and small trees growing 1–10 metres (3.3–32.8 ft) tall, with simple ovate leaves. The flowers are small, greenish-white or yellowish; the fruit is a capsule containing three seeds. The genus is at least in part a wastebasket taxon, and revision will likely result in the renaming of a number of species to different genera. Colubrina asiatica, native to tropical Asia, eastern Africa and northern Australia, has become an invasive species in Florida.Colubrina species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix kendalli which feeds exclusively on C. texensis. In the Caribbean, the leaves and/or fruit and in some cases the bark of some species are used to produce a soft drink called mauby.
