It has two or three leaves at its base and up to five bright yellow and mauve flowers described as "exquisite", "spectacular" and "attractive".

There is a single yellow, ridge-like callus occupying about one-third of the length of the labellum near its base.

[2][3][4][5] Diuris pulchella was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones from a specimen collected in the Mount Ney Nature Reserve, and the description was published in Australian Orchid Review.

[6] The specific epithet (pulchella) is the diminutive form of the Latin word pulcher meaning "beautiful"[7] hence "beautiful little", referring to the "highly colourful and attractive flowers".

[8] The beautiful donkey orchid grows usually in shallow soil on and around granite outcrops and is found between Salmon Gums, Esperance and Balladonia in the Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions.