Its leaves are arranged in a rosette and commonly produces plantlets, eventually forming large clumps that can be over 1 ft (0.3 m) across.

Green petioles emerging from the center of the rosette are typically 3–5 mm wide, but can vary.

Red carnivorous leaves at the end of the petioles are small and round, with most resting on the soil surface.

[1][3][4] It was first recognised and illustrated by Ludwig Diels in his 1906 monograph on the Droseraceae, but was not formally described until 1984 when Katsuhiko Kondo authored three new species in the Drosera petiolaris complex.

[1] The original spelling of the specific epithet was given as dilatato-petiolaris but the hyphen is now deleted in accordance with Article 60.11 of the International Code of Nomenclature.