In the first stage, T. peltatum forms a rosette of simple lanceolate leaves with undulate margins.

[3] In the plant's adult liana form it has short non-carnivorous leaves bearing a pair of "grappling hooks" [4] at their tips on a long twining stem which can become 165 feet (50 meters) in length and four inches (10 cm) thick.

[6] Its seeds are about 3 inches (7.6 cm) in diameter, bright red in color, disc-shaped, with a peltate stalk emerging from the fruit.

[8] As the seed dries out, its wide umbrella shape enables it to be transported on the wind.

Triphyophylum peltatum is difficult to cultivate;[1][9] it is cultivated in four botanical gardens: Abidjan, Bonn, Cambridge University and Würzburg[citation needed], and is exceedingly rare in private collections.