Its Māori name is mingimingi (or mikimiki in the Kāi Tahu dialect), a name which is also applied to closely related species such as C. dumosa, C. rhamnoides, C. virescens and C. crassifolia, as well as unrelated plants like Acrothamnus colensoi.

[2] C. propinqua is a small-leaved shrub or tree which grows 3 to 6 metres high, sometimes reaching 7 m. It has divaricating branches with grey bark, and the plant can appear almost black from a distance.

The leaves are dark green, thick, and linear-oblong to linear-ovate; they often have two small pits (domatia) visible on the pale underside.

[4] The fruit is a drupe up to 8 mm long, pale when immature, turning translucent dark blue or blue-flecked to indigo when mature.

[4]This species is common in forest, swamp, montane scrubland, along stream banks, and in stony places and cliffs.