U. macrorhiza is native to North America and eastern temperate Asia.

[4] U. macrorhiza is a floating plant with six to twenty large, bilaterally symmetrical, yellow flowers that appear in June, July, and August, and are held on an erect stem.

[5] U. macrorhiza is distinguished from other similar species by its flowers, which are larger than those found on any other bladderwort.

[5] The process of trapping the prey from opening to closing the pore takes place in 0.002 seconds.

[5] It shares the northern half of its range with a similar, related species, U. minor, lesser bladderwort.