The extreme variability of genome size (GS) across plant species results in morphological and physiological constraints leading to ecological and evolutionary consequences. Previous studies pointed out that plants with larger GS have lower photosynthetic rates. Plants with larger GS, however, also have higher foliar concentrations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), which positively correlate with photosynthetic rates following the assumptions of the leaf economics spectrum. Nonetheless, the interplay between GS, leaf photosynthetic rates (Amax), N and P concentrations across a relevant phylogenetic scale remains elusive. We address this question by compiling a global dataset of GS, Amax, leaf concentrations of N and P and environmental information for 376 plant species. Our results indicate that the evolutionary history is a direct factor affecting GS, Amax, foliar N and P. Larger GS were found in plants with high foliar P and living over acidic soils. Amax was higher in P and N-rich plants, but we did not find evidence suggesting that photosynthetic capacity is constrained by their GS. Our results suggest that GS-driven evolutionary limitation does not pivot around a constraint imposed on the photosynthetic capacity of plant species.