The petioles are frequently 35–45 mm long when the plant is in flower and are covered in white woolly non-dendritic hairs.

Drosera derbyensis grows in sandy soils in floodways or near rock outcrops from Derby to Beverley Springs in the Kimberley region.

[1] It was first described by Allen Lowrie in 1996; the type specimen was collected from the Silent Grove camping area in the Kimberley on 5 June 1995.

On 29 March 1988, Lowrie first noticed this new species growing near the Boab Prison Tree, 0.6 km (0.4 mi) from Derby.

Among the Drosera petiolaris-complex, D. derbyensis is closely related to D. lanata, but differs from that species by the non-dendritic hairs covering the leaves.