Corymbia setosa is a tree that typically grows to a height of 4 metres (13 ft), rarely as a thick-trunked mallee, and forms a lignotuber.

It has rough, deeply tessellated brownish bark on the trunk and branches and a sparse canopy.

[2][3][4][5][6][7] This eucalypt was first formally described in 1843 by Johannes Conrad Schauer in Walpers' book Repertorium Botanices Systematicae and given the name Eucalyptus setosa from specimens collected by Ferdinand Bauer.

Corymbia setosa grows on rocky hills and red sandy plains, but not extending to wet tropical areas.

It is found from Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, Daly Waters and the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory and east into the Gulf of Carpentaria hinterland and islands, to the Musgrave area of Cape York Peninsula and as far south as Barcaldine in Queensland.