Curtin researcher Adam Cross dropped down to his hands and knees, yelling in excitement, as he realised he had just discovered a population of thousands of extremely rare carnivorous plants in the Kimberley.

The finding was the largest Australian population of Aldrovanda vesiculosa, an aquatic venus flytrap, ever discovered and the first one found in the Kimberley in 20 years.

Dr Cross said he was still pinching himself.

Curtin researcher Adam Cross holding a sample of the rare carnivorous plant at the site of the discovery.

An eager botanist from the age of six, he had spent the last decade unsuccessfully searching for the plant in swamps and billabongs across northern Australia.