It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean.

Its specific epithet comes from the Latin pedunculatus, referring to the long and conspicuous peduncle of the inflorescence.

[2] Colubrina pedunculata is a thorny, sometimes straggling, shrub or small tree.

[2] Found only on Christmas Island, the plant is common on the northern and north-eastern terraces, in areas of poor, dry soil, among limestone pinnacles and scree, and in cliff edge thickets.

[2] Since it is closely related to the widespread C. asiatica (L.) Brongn., the fruit of which is used as a fish toxin, and the leaves of which are used medicinally to treat skin diseases, similar chemical or pharmacological properties may be expected in C.