[1] Dr Poinar published his 2002 type description for Palaeoraphe in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society volume number 139.

[1] The type specimen was excavated from the La Toca mine northeast of Santiago de los Caballeros.

[1] Both genera have distinct sepals, petals with furrows facing the axis of the flower, and similarly shaped and sized anthers.

[1] However, the two genera can be differentiated by the stigmas, which are united for their entire length in Brahea, and by the more relaxed positioning of the anthers in Palaeoraphe.

[1] It is proposed by Dr. Poinar that Palaeoraphe may have been a stenotopic genus which was restricted to the Greater Antilles and possibly to just the island of Hispaniola.