 "Gymnarrhena micrantha" is now considered the sister group of "Cavea tanguensis", who together constitute the tribe Gymnarrheneae and the subfamily Gymnarrhenoideae.Based on recent genetic analysis, it is now generally accepted that the Pertyoideae subfamily is sister to a clade that has as its basal member the Gymnarrhenoideae, and further consists of the Asteroideae, Corymbioideae and Cichorioideae.These three subfamilies share a deletion of nine base-pairs in the ndhF gene which is not present in "Gymnarrhena micrantha".