The richly branched, leaf-like, flattened stems are phylloclades, and are pressed close to the tree trunks of their carriers and form aerial roots along their midrib.

When exposed to direct sunlight, the elliptical to lanceolate, dark green shoots turn dull red due to strong betalain pigmentation and are therefore clearly visible from a distance.

[3] Strophocactus wittii was discovered in 1899 in the Igapó forests of the Rio Negro near Manaus by the German businessman and hobby plant collector Nikolaus Heinrich Witt (from whom the second part of the scientific name is derived).

[10] In 2003, Ralf Bauer suggested that Strophocactus should be recognized again and that Selenicereus wittii should be re-classified in this genus.

[12] The placement as Strophocactus wittii is accepted by Plants of the World Online, as of February 2021[update].

[1] Strophocactus wittii is common in the rainforests of the central Amazon basin along blackwater rivers.

There the species grows in abundance in the crown area of the temporarily flooded floodplain forests.

The distribution area extends along the Rio Negro and Rio Japurá in Brazil over the Río Vaupés, Río Apaporis and Caquetá in Colombia to northeast Peru in the Loreto region to the city of Iquitos and probably includes the southern area of the Amazon basin in Venezuela.

[3] In addition to Strophocactus wittii, only the two cactus species Rhipsalis baccifera and Epiphyllum phyllanthus grow there.

Due to the length of the flower tube only two species occurring in the natural range of Strophocactus wittii have a sufficiently long proboscis (up to 25 cm): Neococytius cluentius[note 1] and Amphimoea walkeri.

The epiphytic orchid species Galeandra devoniana, which also lives in the Igapó forests of the Rio Negro, spreads in this way,[3] as does the sundew Drosera amazonica.