It grows in rocky areas near granitic mountain summits,[1] its roots reaching deep into rock fissures.

[3] Like all members of the genus, N. pervillei is dioecious, having separate male and female plants.

[4][5] The species was originally described as Nepenthes pervillei in 1852, but was later placed in the monotypic genus Anurosperma as Anurosperma pervillei, based on the morphology of its seeds, which differ from the closely allied N. madagascariensis (and the other members of Nepenthes) in that they lack the 'tails' characteristic of the rest of the genus.

However, the more recent taxonomic database of Jan Schlauer subsumes Anurosperma back into Nepenthes.

[6] Long considered one of the more "primitive" species of Nepenthes,[7] recent molecular phylogenies have consistently placed N. pervillei in a basal position within the genus.