A medium sized tree, to 25 m, reaching diameters of 1 m in rainfall areas of 400 - 700 mm. It-is native to all of the mainland eastern states of Australia. It prefers heavy soils, clay loams and better quality sandy loams.
It occurs in woodland with yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora), red box (Eucalyptus polyanthemos), river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), yellow gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon), red ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon), brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) and various Casuarina spp.
The wood is extremely durable, hard, strong and has a fine textured grain. It is used for fence posts and sleepers.