Eucalyptus pileata is a mallee, rarely a small tree, that typically grows to a height of 3.5–8 m (11–26 ft) and forms a lignotuber.

[3][4][5][6] Eucalyptus pileata was first formally described in 1934 by William Blakely in his book A Key to Eucalypts from material collected near Ravensthorpe in 1909.

[7] The specific epithet (pileata) is from the Latin pileatus meaning "wearing a pileus", a kind of felt cap, referring to the cap-shaped operculum.

It grows in shrubland between Balladonia, Kondinin, Norseman, Nugadong and Ravensthorpe in Western Australia.

In South Australia it occurs on the Eyre Peninsula, mainly between the Hincks Conservation Park and Cummins.