Common names include coolamon, watermelon tree, durobby and robby; it is also called "rose apple" but this can refer to many species of Syzygium.

Syzgyium moorei is a canopy tree of sub tropical rainforest, reaching 40 metres in height, and a trunk of 60 centimetres wide.

The leaves are unusual for a New South Wales myrtle, being large, thick and heavy, 8 to 20 cm long with a short blunt point at the tip.

An unusual characteristic of this tree is cauliflory, where flower and fruit form on the main stems or woody trunks rather than from new growth and shoots.

In November to February, pink or orange flowers form in dense panicles on mature branches.