It has smooth, orange-tinted bark that sheds in strips, revealing streaks of pale green, red, orange, grey, and purplish brown.

Mature buds are pale green or cream-coloured, roughly spherical in shape and 2–5 mm (1⁄16–3⁄16 in) in diameter with a hemispherical operculum with a small point on the top.

[5][6] Eucalyptus deglupta was first formally described in 1850 by Carl Ludwig Blume who published the description in his book Museum Botanicum Lugduno-Batavum sive stirpium Exoticarum, Novarum vel Minus Cognitarum ex Vivis aut Siccis Brevis Expositio et Descriptio from material collected in mountain forests in the Celebes.

[2] Eucalyptus sarassa and E. versicolor, first described in 1850 by Blume in his book Museum botanicum Lugduno-Batavum,[14] and E. schlechteri first described by Ludwig Diels in Adolf Engler's book Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie[15] are also considered to be synonyms of E. deglupta by Plants of the World Online.

[2] The rainbow eucalyptus grows in lowland and lower montane rainforest from sea level to altitudes of up to 1,800 m (5,900 ft).

[16][17] E. deglupta are commonly planted as ornamental trees in frost-free climates such as Hawaii, Southern California, Texas and Florida.

[18] It is planted in at least three locations in coastal Los Angeles County, including Santa Monica and San Marino at the Huntington Botanical Garden.