Eucalyptus tricarpa is a tree that typically grows to a height of 35 m (115 ft) and forms a lignotuber.

It has thick rough, reddish brown to black ironbark on the trunk and branches.

[2][3][4][5] The red ironbark was first formally described in 1962 by Lawrie Johnson who gave it the name Eucalyptus sideroxylon subsp.

tricarpa and published the description in Contributions from the New South Wales National Herbarium.

[2] In 2004, Kevin James Rule described two subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census: Eucalyptus tricarpa grows in forest and woodland in coastal south from Araluen in New South Wales and is common in the goldfields near Bendigo, near Anglesea and in coastal and near-coastal areas of Gippsland.