A diminutive relative of Utricularia subulata is widespread across Cape York, growing in seasonally waterlogged heathlands. The tiny plants on Cape York resemble U. subulata in the bract and pedicel morphology but seem to be stably cleistogamous, and grow to a much smaller physical scale than U. subulata. The blooms are roughly 1mm in length, placing them amongst the smallest bladderworts.

U. subulata is known to grow frequently grow cleistogamous blooms and these tiny plants could represent a stable morph that is evolving away from the typical variety. There are some populations with morphological intermediates between the tiny and large plants, but these might represent underdeveloped blooms of the ‘normal’ form of U. subulata as opposed to overdeveloped blooms of the small taxon (is there a difference at the end?).