It was circumscribed by mycologists Josef Adolph von Arx and Grégoire L. Hennebert in 1965 with Raffaelea ambrosiae as the type species.

[1] The genus is named in honor of Italian botanist Raffaele Ciferri.

[1] Laurel wilt is a disease of redbay (Persea borbonia) caused by Raffaelea lauricola.

This fungus, harbored in the mycangium of the redbay ambrosia beetle Xyleborus glabratus, is in the form of a budding yeast in the mycangium and a filamentous fungus in galleries of the beetle.

[2] Several species also resident in the beetle were described as new to science in 2010: R. ellipticospora, R. fusca, R. subalba, and R. subfusca.