The genus was originally described in 1926 by French mycologist René Maire to accommodate agarics with pink spores that were roughened but not angular (as in the genus Entoloma). In 2009, as a result of molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, CoDavid et al. found that Clitopilus species form a clade nested within Rhodocybe species and proposed that these genera should be merged so that the new combined genus (called Clitopilus since it is the earlier name) would be monophyletic (a natural group).[1] Additional research, however, showed that the core groupings of Clitopilus and Rhodocybe were both monophyletic, if outlying species were moved to new genera (Rhodophana, Clitocella, and Clitopilopsis).[2] This disposition has been accepted by subsequent authors.[3][4][5][6]
In this revised sense, the genus remains essentially the same except that Rhodocybe nitellina and associated species are now placed in Rhodophana and Rhodocybe popinalis, R. mundula, and associated species are now placed in Clitocella.[2][3]
