Goodenia perfoliata is a glabrous, perennial herb with erect or ascending flowering stems up to 50 cm (20 in) long.

[2][3][4] This species was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown who gave it the name Velleia perfoliata in his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.

[5][6] In 2020, Kelly Anne Shepherd and others transferred it to the genus Goodenia as G. perfoliata in Australian Systematic Botany.

[7][8] Goodenia perfoliata grows in open forest from near Wisemans Ferry and the Colo River to the upper Hunter Valley, in New South Wales.

[2][3] This species is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.