Dubautia waialealae is a low, compact, rounded, cushion-like shrub, typically 10-50 cm tall. The stems are woody and rough and enveloped in numerous, closely spaced but interrupted petiole bases. They are moderately to copiously hispid. The leaves are arranged in whorls of 3-4 (or more) per node, closely imbricate, and elliptic-oblanceolate, measuring 1-3 cm long and 3-7 mm wide. They bear several, sometimes somewhat obscure, nerves. The upper surface is appressed hispid, at least along the midvein, while the lower surface is glabrate or hispid basally. The margins are 3-5-toothed apically and ciliate to the base, with an apex that is acute or slightly acuminate and a base that is briefly attenuate. The flower heads, usually numbering 10-35, are cymosely clustered in paniculate to corymbose inflorescences that are 2.5-8 cm long and 1.5-5 cm wide. The peduncles are densely pilose, with the ultimate ones rarely exceeding 5 mm in length. The receptacle is low-conical, with a false involucre consisting of a single series of 4-11 usually peripheral, basally connate, sometimes slightly apically imbricate receptacular bracts that are 4.5-6.5 mm long and moderately appressed pilose. Some heads have 1-3 reduced bracts interspersed with florets toward the central part of the disk. Each head contains 5-11 florets with yellow corollas that are 2-3.5 mm long and moderately glandular with rather conspicuous but small, short-stalked glands on the tube. The pappus comprises 13-19 very narrowly linear-lanceolate, short-fimbriate-ciliate, aristate scales 2.5-4 mm long. The fruit is a simple, dry achene (cypsela), measuring 6 – 7.5 mm long (including the pappus) and hispidulous. It occurs in montane bogs within upper-elevation wet forest regions between 600 – 2,100 meters.