The placement of the genus Rhodotus in the order Agaricales is uncertain, and various authors have offered solutions to the taxonomic conundrum.
In 1951, Agaricales specialist Rolf Singer placed Rhodotus in the Amanitaceae because of similarities between the tribes Amaniteae and Rhodoteae, such as spore color and ornamentation (modifications of the spore wall that result in surface irregularities), structure of the hyphae and trama, and chlamydospore production during culture growth.

In 1953, French mycologists  Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi placed Rhodotus in the family Tricholomataceae—a traditional "wastebasket taxon"—on the basis of spore color.
In 1969, Besson argued for the placement of Rhodotus with the Entolomataceae after studying the ultrastructure of the spores.
By 1986, Singer had revised the placement of Rhodotus in his latest edition of The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, noting that "It has formerly been inserted in the family Amanitaceae but is obviously closer to tribus Pseudohiatuleae of the Tricholomataceae."
Tribe Pseudohiatuleae included such genera as Flammulina, Pseudohiatula, Cyptotrama, and Callistodermatium.
In 1988, a proposal was made to split the Tricholomataceae into several new families, including a family, Rhodotaceae, to contain the problematic genus.

The use of molecular phylogenetics has helped to clarify the proper taxonomic placement of Rhodotus.
Studies of the ribosomal DNA sequences from a wide variety of agaric fungi have corroborated Kühner and Romagnesi's placement of Rhodotus in the Tricholomataceae as then understood.
A large scale phylogenetic analysis published in 2005 showed Rhodotus to be in the "core euagarics clade", a name given to a grouping of gilled mushrooms corresponding largely to the suborder Agaricineae as defined by Singer (1986), but also including taxa that were traditionally classified in the Aphyllophorales (e.g., Clavaria, Typhula, Fistulina, Schizophyllum, etc.)
and several orders of Gasteromycetes (e.g., Hymenogastrales, Lycoperdales, Nidulariales).
These results corroborated a previous study which showed Rhodotus to be part of a clade containing species such as Cyptotrama asprata, Marasmius trullisatus, Flammulina velutipes, Xerula furfuracea, Gloiocephala menieri, and Armillaria tabescens.
The genera containing these latter species have been reassigned to the family Physalacriaceae; as of 2009, both Index Fungorum and MycoBank also list Rhodotus as belonging to the Physalacriaceae.
The placement of the genus Rhodotus in the order Agaricales is uncertain, and various authors have offered solutions to the taxonomic conundrum. In 1951, Agaricales specialist Rolf Singer placed Rhodotus in the Amanitaceae because of similarities between the tribes Amaniteae and Rhodoteae, such as spore color and ornamentation (modifications of the spore wall that result in surface irregularities), structure of the hyphae and trama, and chlamydospore production during culture growth.
In 1953, French mycologists  Robert Kühner and Henri Romagnesi placed Rhodotus in the family Tricholomataceae—a traditional "wastebasket taxon"—on the basis of spore color. In 1969, Besson argued for the placement of Rhodotus with the Entolomataceae after studying the ultrastructure of the spores. By 1986, Singer had revised the placement of Rhodotus in his latest edition of The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, noting that "It has formerly been inserted in the family Amanitaceae but is obviously closer to tribus Pseudohiatuleae of the Tricholomataceae." Tribe Pseudohiatuleae included such genera as Flammulina, Pseudohiatula, Cyptotrama, and Callistodermatium. In 1988, a proposal was made to split the Tricholomataceae into several new families, including a family, Rhodotaceae, to contain the problematic genus.
The use of molecular phylogenetics has helped to clarify the proper taxonomic placement of Rhodotus. Studies of the ribosomal DNA sequences from a wide variety of agaric fungi have corroborated Kühner and Romagnesi's placement of Rhodotus in the Tricholomataceae as then understood. A large scale phylogenetic analysis published in 2005 showed Rhodotus to be in the "core euagarics clade", a name given to a grouping of gilled mushrooms corresponding largely to the suborder Agaricineae as defined by Singer (1986), but also including taxa that were traditionally classified in the Aphyllophorales (e.g., Clavaria, Typhula, Fistulina, Schizophyllum, etc.) and several orders of Gasteromycetes (e.g., Hymenogastrales, Lycoperdales, Nidulariales). These results corroborated a previous study which showed Rhodotus to be part of a clade containing species such as Cyptotrama asprata, Marasmius trullisatus, Flammulina velutipes, Xerula furfuracea, Gloiocephala menieri, and Armillaria tabescens. The genera containing these latter species have been reassigned to the family Physalacriaceae; as of 2009, both Index Fungorum and MycoBank also list Rhodotus as belonging to the Physalacriaceae.
Rhodotus