The turpentine is found in eastern Queensland and New South Wales, from Atherton in the far north to as far south as Murramarang National Park. North of Gympie, the distribution is fragmented, with colonies on the Blackdown and Consuelo Tablelands, Tinaroo district and Windsor Tableland. The habitat most commonly associated with the turpentine is transitional forest between rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest. Here it grows as an emergent tree, and is associated with such trees as flooded gum ("Eucalyptus grandis"), tallowwood ("E. microcorys"), grey ironbark ("E. paniculata"), white stringybark ("E. globoidea"), yellow stringybark ("E. muelleriana"), white-topped box ("E. quadrangulata"), rough-barked apple ("Angophora floribunda"), brush box ("Lophostemon confertus") and various rainforest species. It also grows with spotted gum ("Corymbia maculata") and blackbutt ("E. pilularis"). On poorer soils, it can grow much smaller in dry sclerophyll forest in association with smooth-barked apple ("Angophora costata") and yellow bloodwood ("Corymbia eximia").