It has up to three grass-like leaves and up to six orange-coloured to yellow flowers with white and purplish tints.

[2][4][5] Diuris tricolor was first formally described in 1885 by Robert FitzGerald and the description was published in the Journal of Botany, British and Foreign.

[8]: 219 In 1940, Herman Rupp described D. colemaniae[9] in honour of Edith Coleman and which he noted had shorter lateral sepals and a "quite different" labellum.

[2][3][4] Diuris tricolor is classed as Vulnerable in New South Wales under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.

[3] The main threats to the species are habitat alteration and grazing by rabbits and goats.