[1] It consists of two species of high-altitude tropical and temperate plants, native to cool forest areas – an unusual habitat for members of the Zingiberaceae.

It has a narrowed section (claw) at its base which is joined to the side lobes of the petal tube.

[3] James Edward Smith described the first species of Cautleya in 1822; however, he placed them in the genus Roscoea as R. gracilis and R. spicata.

[2] John Royle first suggested the genus name Cautleya, in honour of Proby Cautley, who was responsible for extensive irrigation works in India under the British Raj.

[2][4][5] A 2002 classification of the family Zingiberaceae, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, places Cautleya in the subfamily Zingiberoideae, tribe Zingibereae.

In the analysis, it was most closely related to the genus Roscoea, and then to Rhynchanthus, Pommereschea and Hedychium.

[4] As of August 2023[update], the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) recognized only two species:[2] The older Flora of China recognizes C. cathcartii as a full species,[3] whereas WCSP treats it as C. gracilis var.

The unusual mountainous distribution of Cautleya, and the closely related genus Roscoea, may have evolved relatively recently and be a response to the uplift taking place in the area due to the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates in the last 50 million years or so.

[4] Found in the understorey of forests or in moist valleys,[3] they may grow on trees as epiphytes or on the ground in steep rocky locations.

When grown in the ground, they are frost-hardy to some degree in climates such as northwest Europe, although a protective covering in winter is advised.