Monopsis lutea is a perennial herb that sprawls or creeps along the ground in damp spots. Lutea (Latin) meaning yellow indicates the flower colour. One of the only 18 Monopsis species that are all African, it is called the yellow lobelia.

Although not botanically a Lobelia, both Monopsis and Lobelia belong to the Campanulaceae or bellflower family. The Lobeliaceae family seems to have been done away with by adding (some of?) its genera and species to Campanulaceae (Manning, 2009; Riley, 1963).