Genlisea aurea is a perennial herb that forms small, compact rosettes composed of nearly linear leaves about 2 mm wide.

[1] The up to 40 cm tall inflorescence produces one to three flowers at its apex that are typically 15–20 mm long and are the largest of the yellow-flowered species.

According to the study, prior to its publication the smallest known angiosperm (flowering plant) genome was that of Arabidopsis thaliana at 157 Megabase pairs (Mbp).

[4] Genlisea aurea is endemic to Brazil from the states of Mato Grosso in the west to northeastern Bahia and down to Santa Catarina in the southeast.

It typically grows on sandstone highlands at altitudes from 550 m to 2550 m. Its preferred substrate is a black humus-rich soil, which is sometimes mixed with sand.

It differs slightly in habitat by preferring sandier soils and in morphology by possessing smaller flowers and fewer leaves.

Evidence of this behavior had been postulated ever since Charles Darwin's time and has mostly relied on circumstantial findings of the occasional dead aquatic invertebrate in the utricle (digestion chamber).