The species grows in open, high forest at elevations of 1600 to 2100 m. It produces dainty, colourful pitchers reaching only a few centimetres in height.

[4] The specific epithet glabrata is derived from the Latin word glaber, meaning "hairless", and refers to the mostly glabrous nature of this species.

[5] Although Kurata's article was printed first, the name he used is a later homonym of a horticultural hybrid published in 1891 (N. × rubromaculata) and is thus a nomen illegitimum (illegitimate name).

[5][8] The holotype of N. glabrata, J.R.Turnbull & A.T.Middleton 83113a, was collected on August 31, 1983, from the Tri Tunggal Eboni Corp. logging concession (1°33′S 120°55′E / 1.550°S 120.917°E / -1.550; 120.917) in Central Sulawesi at an altitude of 1666 m.[5][6] In their description of the species, Turnbull and Middleton wrote that the specimen was deposited at Herbarium Bogoriense (BO), the herbarium of the Bogor Botanical Gardens, but Matthew Jebb and Martin Cheek were unable to locate it in 1995 and 1996, and write that it "may never have been distributed".

[5] The holotype of N. rubromaculata Sh.Kurata, Kurata, Atsumi & Komatsu 149a, was collected on November 9, 1983, from the route from Malei to Kajoga in Central Sulawesi.

[9] Nepenthes glabrata is a climbing plant growing to a height of 13 m.[10] The stem is terete to slightly two-ridged and up to 3 mm in diameter.

The lamina is shortly attenuate at the base, clasping the stem by approximately one-third to one-half of its circumference and may or may not become decurrent as a pair of very low ridges.

[10] At one location, N. glabrata has been found growing alongside N. maxima and Drosera burmanni at 1600 m.[11] A putative natural hybrid with the former has been recorded.

Nepenthes glabrata is classified as Least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, based on an assessment carried out in 2015.

[13] In their 2001 monograph, Cheek and Jebb considered N. glabrata to be most closely allied to N. muluensis based on its atypical lid nervation as well as the size, shape, and pigmentation of its upper pitchers.