It is native to Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal.

[1] Utricularia recta grows as a terrestrial plant in marshes and bogs from altitudes around 900 m (2,953 ft) to 4,000 m (13,123 ft).

It was originally described as a variety of Utricularia wallichiana by Daniel Oliver in 1859.

It was later transferred to a variety of Utricularia scandens by Krishnaier Subramanyam and Banerjee in 1968.

Peter Taylor elevated the variety to the specific rank in 1986 upon further review of its morphological characteristics.