Most are found in the tropical forests of Central and northern South America, and are climbers or epiphytes, unlike most cacti.

The phyllocactoid clade (Epiphyllum, Disocactus, Kimnachia and Pseudorhipsalis) are mainly epiphytic, and have spineless flattened leaf-like stems.

[6] The International Cactaceae Systematics Group classification, based on Barthlott & Hunt (1993), recognized six genera within the tribe.

[4][7] Subsequent studies suggested a number of changes, for example including Acanthocereus in the tribe and excluding Strophocactus (which had been sunk into Selenicereus).

[9] Acanthocereus Aporocactus Selenicereus Weberocereus Pseudorhipsalis Kimnachia Epiphyllum Disocactus The authors of the 2017 study proposed revised circumscriptions of some of the genera and of the tribe to make them monophyletic according to their molecular phylogeny:[3] The table below compares the 1993 and 2017 classifications.