 The genus was originally informally suggested by American mycologist Curtis Gates Lloyd in 1915 to contain the Australian species then known as "Polyporus decipiens".Lloyd recognized that the fungus could not be referred to existing genera; its coloured spores and pore structure excluded it from "Hexagonia" and "Trametes".Jorge E. Wright emended the generic description and published "Phaeotrametes" validly in 1966.