The locality of their collection is stated by later authors as either the Bay of Islands or Queen Charlotte Sound (Totara nui).

[6] Joseph Dalton Hooker[7] thought that the species didn't belong well in Scorzonera: he had proposed a subgenus, then placed it in Microseris, beside M. pygmæa of Chile.

[11] Some authorities have grouped M. scapigera with the other Australian forms into single species under the name M. lancifolia, for example A census of the vascular plants of Victoria, Edition 3.

[12] The third species was formally described by Neville Walsh in 2016, matching herbarium specimens were identified, and the name M. walteri was selected.

Aboriginal populations in southeastern Australia relied on tubers of the daisy yam as a staple,[15] and actively cultivated it.