Monopsis lutea, the yellow lobelia, has narrowly elliptic, toothed leaves that overlap each other and point upwards. The leaves are sometimes oriented along the upper sides of stems, although this specimen, photographed in Jonkershoek in March does not show that. The plant generally trails but may still reach 60 cm.

The flowers of M. lutea grow in spikes, are two-lipped and bright yellow. They are hairy and have funnel-shaped tubes.

The distribution of the plant lies from the coast in the southern and south-western Cape to some distance inland where moisture is still reasonably available (Manning, 2009; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2010).