 Salisbury originally described the Omphalissa as a subgroup of the Zephyrantheae, then a tribe within the Amaryllidaceae, in which he included "Amaryllis" (now "Hippeastrum") "aulica" and "A. calyptrata".This was subsequently more formally defined by John Gilbert Baker in 1888, as a subgenus of "Hippeastrum "with six species.Baker's six species were;


Contains the epiphytic species of "Hippeastrum".