[5][6] The specific epithet is taken from the Latin word dolorosus meaning "painful" or "sad",[7] in reference to the only locality where the species is found.

[3] The species is part of the Eucalyptus subgenus series Diversiformae, a group of mallees that all have adult leaves held erect, buds with a single unscarred operculum and pyramidal seeds.

[8] Mount Misery mallee is found on a hillside in a small area of the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia around Dandaragan where it grows in lateritic soils.

Other species found in the scrub include Eucalyptus arachnaea, E. gittinsii, E. pluricaulis, E. abdita, Hakea lissocarpha, H. obliqua, H. undulata, Calothamnus quadrifidus, Melaleuca radula, Acacia pulchella and Eremaea asterocarpa.

[9] A total of 25 individual plants in eight population groups remain in a small remnant of natural bush on a private property on the summit and slopes of Mount Misery, a lateritic hill east of Cataby in Western Australia.