They are distinguished from the other two Amaryllidaceae subfamilies (Agapanthoideae and Allioideae) by their unique alkaloidal chemistry, inferior ovary, and hollow style.

He placed Amaryllis in a grouping he referred to as Hexandria monogynia (i.e. six stamens and one pistil)[4] containing 51 genera in all[5] in his sexual classification scheme.

[9] In 1810 Brown proposed that a subgroup of Liliaceae be distinguished on the basis of the position of the ovaries (inferior) and be referred to as Amaryllideae[10] and in 1813 de Candolle described Liliacées Juss.

[16] He defined the latter as "Hexapetaloideous bulbous hexandrous monocotyledons, with an inferior ovarium, a 6-parted perianthium with equitant sepals, and flat spongy seeds" and included Amaryllis, Phycella, Nerine, Vallota, and Calostemma.

Of the four tribes of the Amaryllidaceae, the Amaryllideae and Narcisseae would remain as core amaryllids while the Agaveae would be part of Asparagaceae but the Alstroemeriae would become a family within the Liliales.

Since then seven of Linnaeus' genera have consistently been placed in a common taxonomic unit of amaryllids, based on the inferior position of the ovaries (whether this be as an order, suborder, family, subfamily, tribe or section).

[20] Thus much of what we now consider Amaryllidoideae remained in Liliaceae because the ovary was superior, till 1926 when John Hutchinson transferred them to Amaryllidaceae.

[21] The number of known genera within these families continued to grow, and by the time of the Bentham and Hooker classification (1883) the Amaryllidaceae (Amaryllideae) were divided into four tribes, of which only one (Amarylleae) still represents the grouping now reflected in Amarylloideae.

[22] In the post-Darwinian era the amaryllids were mainly treated as part of a very large family Liliaceae, although the early twentieth century saw increasing doubts about the inclusion of many of its components, particularly the alliaceous (i.e. Allioideae) elements.

The introduction of molecular methods in the 1990s confirmed the affinity of three major taxa corresponding to Alliaceae, Agapanthaceae and Amaryllidaceae.

[31] Hutchinson was an early proponent of the larger Amaryllidaceae, transferring taxa from Liliaceae and had three tribes, Agapantheae, Allieae and Gilliesieae.

In Dahlgren's system, a "splitter" who favoured larger numbers of smaller families, he adopted a narrower circumscription than Traub, using only the latter's Amaryllidoideae which he treated as nine tribes.

Subsequent research has shown these to be very different taxa, Hemerocallis being placed in the family Xanthorrhoeaceae, while Leucocrinum belongs in Asparagaceae, both part of Asparagales.

so only two of his subfamilies now belong in Amaryllidaceae s.l.. Traubiinae Stenomesseae/EucharideaeGriffineaeHymenocallideaeCalostemmateae The further application of molecular phylogenetics produced a complex picture that only partially related to the tribal structure considered up to that date, which had been based on morphology alone.

[35] The combined clade would include Stenomessaea as the reduced Stenomesson (sensu stricto), Rauhia, Phaedranassa, and Eucrosia, together with Eucharideae as Eucharis, Caliphruria, and Urceolina.

In this redescription, Clinanthus luteus becomes the type species for tribe Clinantheae which includes Pamianthe, Paramongaia and Pucara.

[36] The Eurasian clade was also further resolved (for historical treatment, see Table I Meerow et al. 2006) into four tribes, Pancratieae, Narcisseae, Galantheae and Lycorideae.