Dubautia arborea is a shrub or small tree reaching up to 6 meters in height, with a trunk up to 40 centimeters in diameter. Young shoots have long, coarse hairs and a notably glandular appearance, sometimes resembling a sooty texture. The leaves are simple and opposite, arranged in threes (ternate), and have a papery texture, emitting an unpleasant odor when fresh. They vary in shape from elliptic-lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, measuring 3-9 cm in length and 0.8-2.4 cm in width. The leaves are covered in glandular structures, rough to the touch. Both leaf surfaces may have fine to conspicuous hairs, giving them a sooty appearance. Leaf margins are smooth or have 1-3 teeth in the upper half and may bear tiny hair-like structures. The leaf tips are blunt to somewhat pointed, and the base is nearly stemless. The flower heads, numbering 5-30, are arranged in racemes or clusters. The stalks are hairy and glandular, sometimes with bristles with shorter upper stalks. The receptacle is cone-shaped, with a false involucre of closely connected bracts. Each head contains 9-45 florets with yellowish-orange corollas, usually hairless or with very sparse hairs on the tube. The fruits are small, dry, simple achenes measuring 8-10 mm long (including the pappus), sometimes bearing stiff hairs. It is found in subalpine shrubland, woodland, and alpine deserts between 2,120-3,100 meters.