Most Antirrhineae are herbaceous, short-lived, perennial or annual plants growing at most about a metre/yard tall when in full flower; the maximum height of most species is half as much or less.

While e.g. common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) is credited with a range of uses by European herbalists, as of the 2010s, little scientific study has been made and the traditionally attested medical properties of the Antirrhineae are by and large unremarkable by standards of the Plantaginaceae, which abound with species of major pharmacological interest.

Antirrhinum majus cultivars can today be encountered essentially anywhere between Earth's polar circles, whether grown in a range of sizes and colours by hobbyists or field-scale for sale as cut flowers.

In the hottest parts of the globe, it dies after one flowering, and in arid regions, other species may be more important, but otherwise it is extremely adaptable, and in warm-temperate climates, individual plants may survive for several years.

The readiness with which A. majus flower colour and shape mutate and can be crossbred has led to the establishments of unusual (e.g. peloric) cultivars, as well as to making this species one of the first model organisms of genetics and helping uniting the theories of Darwin and Mendel.

The type genus is Antirrhinum L.[4][5] Antirrhineae are probably most closely related to the turtlehead tribe (Cheloneae) and/or a large and badly resolved core group of their family including plants as diverse as water-starworts (Callitriche), foxgloves (Digitalis), and speedwell (Veronica).

In 2000, combining internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and morphological data from 16 genera, Ghebrehiwet et al[10] confirmed Rothmaler's proposal of a close relationship between the fairly dissimilar-looking Maurandya and Rhodochiton and the distinctness of their lineage from the bulk of the subfamily.

Given the highly similar datasets and analyses, a clerical error confusing the two generic names might be suspected, but considering that the 2013 study included two species of each genus which congruently resolved as sister taxa, hybrid introgression, or a disparity between nuclear (ITS) and chloroplast (ndhF) evolution or some other divergence[13] seems a more likely cause.

It is included in the present tribe by GRIN,[16] whereas other authors have variously allied it with the foxgloves (Digitalis) or even united with the equally puzzling Oreosolen and Ourisia in a lineage close to the broomrape Rehmannia as part of the Scrophulariaceae sensu lato.