The type species X. moorei is found in the mountains of New Caledonia.

The Poor Knights lily (X. callistemon) is endemic to the Poor Knights Islands and Taranga Island in the north of New Zealand.

The Poor Knights lily has large bottlebrush flower clusters that grow horizontally.

The clusters begin growing vertically and then bend sideways.

The APG IV system, of 2016, accepts this genus as constituting its own family Xeronemataceae.