[7][8][9] Colubrina greggii is a shrub 2–3 m in height or a small tree, reaching 5 m. Stems zigzag and are glabrate to loosely sericeous.

The fruit is a hard, globose capsule approximately 8–10 mm in diameter, on which calyx remnants form an equatorial ring.

[4][6][10][11][12] It is very similar to C. arborescens of southern Florida and the Caribbean, and herbarium specimens of the two species are difficult to distinguish.

[13] C. greggii can be found in the states of Coahuila, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz in Mexico.

[14] Colubrina greggii is part of a species complex with C. angustior of San Luis Potosi, southern Tamaulipas, and northern Veracruz and C. yucatanensis of Campeche, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, and Guatemala's Petén Department.