The subtribe Astephaninae (tribe Asclepiadeae, Asclepiadaceae) is recircumscribed to contain 11 genera:Astephanus, Blyttia, Diplostigma, Goydera, Aiicroloma, Oncinema, Pentatropis, Pteurosteima, Rhyncharrhena, Schizostephanus,andTylophoropsis.Following a character analysis, phylogeny was analysed by means of a computerized parsimony program (HENNIG86).Astephanus /Microlomais identified as the most stable clade, followed byTylophopropsis/Pentatropis/Rhyncharrhena, Blyttia/DiplostigmaandSchizostephanus/Goydera.A key to the genera is presented, as well as notes on distribution, important characters, and present state of knowledge for each genus. The genusSchizostephanusis resurrected and four new combinations are proposed.