'''''Utricularia unifolia''''' is a medium-sized [[perennial plant|perennial]] [[carnivorous plant]] that belongs to the [[genus]] ''[[Utricularia]]''. ''U. unifolia'' is native to [[Central America]] ([[Costa Rica]], [[Nicaragua]], and [[Panama]]) and western [[South America]] ([[Bolivia]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], and [[Venezuela]]). It was originally published and described by [[Hipólito Ruiz López]] and [[José Antonio Pavón Jiménez]] in 1797 and later considered a synonym of ''[[Utricularia alpina]]'' until [[Peter Taylor (botanist)|Peter Taylor]]'s 1989 [[monograph]] on the genus where he restored the species as distinct from ''U. alpina''. It grows as a terrestrial or [[epiphyte|epiphytic]] plant on moss-covered trees, rocks, or banks in [[cloud forest]]s at altitudes between {{convert|2000|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|3000|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. ''U. unifolia'' usually produces only one leaf (rarely two or three), which is where the species [[epithet]] "unifolia" is derived from.<ref name="Taylor 1989">Taylor, Peter. (1989). ''The genus ''Utricularia'': A taxonomic monograph.'' Kew Bulletin Additional Series XIV: London.</ref>