[3] Myrtales are placed as a sister to the eurosids II clade as of the publishing of the Eucalyptus grandis genome in June 2014.

[4] The Cronquist system gives essentially the same composition, except the Vochysiaceae are removed to the order Polygalales, and the Thymelaeaceae are included.

The APG III system agrees with the older Cronquist circumscriptions of treating Psiloxylaceae and Heteropyxidaceae within Myrtaceae, and Memecyclaceae within Melastomataceae.

When looking at chloroplast DNA, the myrtales' ancestor is, instead, considered to have evolved during the mid-Cretaceous period (100 mya) in Southeast Africa, rather than in Australasia.

The discrepancy is thought to have arisen due to the difference between using numerous taxa versus using various genes for constructing a phylogeny.