Orchids in this genus are epiphytic, lithophytic, terrestrial or rarely leafless saprophytic herbs usually with pseudobulbs.

There are about fifty-five species and sixteen further natural hybrids occurring in the wild from tropical and subtropical Asia to Australia.

The genome of Cymbidium mannii has been sequenced to study epiphytism and crassulacean acid metabolism.

[4][5][6] The genus Cymbidium was first formally described in 1799 by Olof Swartz who published the description in Nova acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis.

[10] In 1984 Christopher Seth and Phillip Cribb divided the genus into three subgenera Cyperorchis, Jensoa, and Cymbidium and each subgenus into sections.

[7] Plants in this subgenus have four pollinia, in two unequal pairs; lips attached to the base of the column,[7] This genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia (such as northern India, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Borneo) and Australia.

[21] The species Cymbidium hookerianum is considered a delicacy in Bhutan, where it is traditionally cooked in a spicy curry or stew and called "olatshe" or "olachoto".