Eucalyptus rugosa is a mallee that typically grows to a height of 9–10 m (30–33 ft) and forms a lignotuber.

[3][4][5] Eucalyptus rugosa was first formally described in 1903 by William Blakely from an unpublished manuscript by Robert Brown.

Blakely's description was published in his book A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus.

[6][7] The specific epithet (rugosa) is from the Latin rugosus meaning "wrinkled", referring to the buds and fruit.

Dean Nicolle considers the species to be endemic to South Australia, occurring between Fowlers Bay in the east to the south-east coast and Kangaroo Island, but E. rugosa is also considered to occur in Western Australia by the Western Australian Herbarium.