Utricularia steenisii is a small annual carnivorous plant that belongs to the genus Utricularia. It is endemic to Sumatra and is only known from higher elevations in Aceh. U. steenisii grows as a lithophyte or terrestrial plant among mosses in exposed or shady soils or on rocks at altitudes from 2,500 m (8,202 ft) to 3,200 m (10,499 ft). It was first collected in 1937 by Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan van Steenis, for whom the species is named. Peter Taylor misidentified a specimen of U. steenisii as U. salwinensis in 1977, but upon viewing further specimens, he realized the nature of this new species and formally described it in 1986.