Drosophyllum lusitanicum is a perennial carnivorous plant with woody stems at the base, short, simple or rarely branched, tortuous or erect.

[2] The 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in)[2] glandular leaves, which uncoil from a central rosette, lack the power of movement common to most sundews, but have the unusual characteristic of coiling 'outward' when immature (outward circinate vernation).

Drosophyllum lusitanicum is native to the western Mediterranean region, through most of Portugal, southwest Spain and northern Morocco), and is one of the few carnivorous plants to grow in dry soil.

Recent molecular and biochemical studies, however, place it in the monotypic Drosophyllaceae, as recommended by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, and allied with the Dioncophyllaceae (Triphyophyllum) and Ancistrocladaceae.

Recent molecular and biochemical evidence (see the AP-Website) suggests the carnivorous taxa in the order Caryophyllales (the families Droseraceae, Drosophyllaceae, Nepenthaceae, and the species Triphyophyllum peltatum) all belong to the same clade, which does not consist only of carnivorous plants, but also includes some noncarnivorous plants, such as those in the family Ancistrocladaceae.