Tree to mostly 15 m tall. Bark rough throughout or smooth in upper parts. Juvenile leaves opposite, stalk if present very short, orbicular to cordate, glaucous, persistent on adult trees. Adult leaves broadly lanceolate; blade mostly 8-11 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm wide, waxy-grey, dull. Leaf stalk flattened, 6-11 m long. Flowers white, in 3s, cluster stalk cylindrical, 2-6 mm long; flowers creamy white, without stalks; Dec-Feb. Fruits obconical to hemispherical, 5-8 mm long; disk broad.
Three subspecies are recognised, with the most recent Eucalyptus cinerea subsp. victoriensis was described in 2018. Of the three subspecies, E. cinerea subsp. cinerea is the taxon typically found in cultivation.
Grows naturally in woodland or on flats near water and is used in horticulture, sometimes as a street tree, for its ornamental foliage.
Australia (New South Wales, Victoria).
Flattened petiole 6-11 mm long. Similar to Eucalyptus cephalocarpa but with a shorter leaf stalk on mature leaves and a more pointed flower cap.
ACT: Braddon (Henty St), Canberra (Prime Minister's Lodge, ptd Sir Robert Menzies 1959); Red Hill (Endeavour St); Yarralumla (Government House, ptd Duke of Edinburgh 18 Feb 1954, replaced 1977). VIC: Dookie (Agricultural College, now part of Melbourne University).
Source: (2002). Eucalyptus. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 3. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 2. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.