Known for many years as Eucalyptus eximia, the yellow bloodwood was transferred into the new genus Corymbia in 1995 when it was erected by Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson.

[4] First collected by Europeans near the Grose River by Robert Brown and Ferdinand Bauer between September and October 1803,[7] the yellow bloodwood was described as Eucalyptus eximia by German botanist Johannes Conrad Schauer in 1843 in Wilhelm Gerhard Walpers' book Repertorium Botanices Systematicae.

[8][9] The species name is derived from the Latin adjective eximius 'exceptional' or 'uncommon', and might be related to the distinctive and unusual appearance of either the bark or flowers of the tree.

[4] In 1995, the genus Eucalyptus was split into three genera by Ken Hill and Lawrie Johnson of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, with E. eximia transferred into Corymbia.

[12] Around the Sydney Basin, it is common on sandstone plateaux and escarpments in the vicinity of the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers, and lower Blue Mountains,[2] particularly on western aspects of slopes.

[4] It grows in dry sclerophyll forest on sandstone soils, associated with such species as red bloodwood (Corymbia gummifera), dwarf apple (Angophora hispida), smooth-barked apple (A. costata), narrow-leaved stringybark (Eucalyptus sparsifolia), white stringybark (E. globoidea), sydney peppermint (E. piperita), grey gum (E. punctata), scribbly gums (E. haemastoma and E. racemosa) and black sheoak (Allocasuarina littoralis).

[3] It is highly sensitive to the white leaf and shoot blight (Sporothrix pitereka)[13] The relatively small size and rarity of Corymbia eximia meant it was rarely used as timber.