Phlogites is a member of the extinct ambulacrarian stem group Cambroernida, occupying an intermediate position between the basal Herpetogaster and the more derived Eldonioidea.

[4] Phlogites was a cup-shaped animal with a branching tentacular feeding system leading to a dextrally coiled gut with a lateral anus.

The coiling present in the external form of Herpetogaster became internal, except for a small lobate extension with the anus opening laterally.

[1] Since ICZN precedence rules do not apply at the phylum level, later researchers opted to propose cambroernids as an informal group rather than expanding the phylum Dendrobrachia, noting that "not only is the concept of phyla essentialist but it serves to place problematic taxa in a phylogenetic limbo, rendering them effectively immune to further evolutionary analysis.

[2] A different group of researchers agreed with synonymizing Cheungkongella with Phlogites, but proposed a new phylum, Dendrobrachia, with affinities to the Gnathifera.