[1] Plowmanianthus is a member of the subtribe Dichorisandrinae of the tribe Tradescantieae of the flowering plant family Commelinaceae.

Proceeding from the north to south and southeast of the genus's distribution, the taxa are as follows.

In the wild, plants grow on the floor of primary rainforests, shallowly rooted in the humus-rich and leaf-litter layers.

Plowmanianthus resembles its close relative, the epiphytic genus Cochliostema, but is smaller (its leaves reach only to ca.

Its flowers are also much smaller, lack the spirally coiled anthers of Cochliostema, and are usually cleistogamous (i.e., they usually never open).