Eucalyptus propinqua is a tree that typically grows to a height of 40 m (130 ft) and forms a lignotuber.

It has smooth mottled grey, cream-coloured and yellowish bark that is shed in strips.

[2][3][4][5] Eucalyptus propinqua was first formally described in 1896 by Joseph Maiden and Henry Deane in Proecceding of the Linnean Society of New South Wales.

[6][7] The specific epithet (propinqua) is from the Latin propinquus meaning "near", referring to the similarity of the bark to that of E.

[2] Grey gum grows in open forest on low hills and ridges in coastal and near-coastal areas between Gympie in Queensland and the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales.