Tree to 25 m tall; bark rough over whole trunk and larger branches, finely fibrous, grey or yellowish-grey. Juvenile leaves sessile, opposite for few pairs then petiolate, alternate, ovate to broadly lanceolate, to 17 cm long, 8 cm wide, blue-green. Stem of saplings not glaucous; adult leaves petiolate, alternate, lanceolate, 8–14 cm long, 1–2.5 cm wide, concolorous, glossy, green to grey-green; side veins very acute; reticulation sparse, with numerous island oil glands. Inflorescences axillary, unbranched; peduncles to 1.4 cm long, 11–15-flowered; buds pedicellate, clavate, 0.7 cm long, 0.4 cm diam., no scar (single operculum); operculum hemispherical; stamens inflexed, usually with outer staminodes; anthers dorsifixed, reniform. Style short. Flowers white. Fruit pedicellate, obconical to hemispherical, to 1 cm long, 0.8 cm diam.; disc level to slightly ascending; valves (3)4, rim level; seed brown or black, glossy, smooth, pyramidal but distorted by one curved face, hilum terminal. Flowers Nov.–Mar.
VRiv, GipP, CVU, GGr, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, MonT, HFE. Also NSW. Scattered, usually on poor soils, in dryish foothill and lowland forests and heaths east from near Yarram (with disjunct occurrences near Healesville, and on top of Mt Oberon, Wilsons Promontory).
The bark resembles that of the peppermints (but prickly when crushed in the hand) in contrast to the thick compacted or furrowed bark of the related Eucalyptus sieberi. It is further distinguished by the non-glaucous sapling stems, and fruit usually with 4 valves.
