The genus Malaifilix was erected in 2016 for a species previously placed in Tectaria (Tectaria grandidentata).[1] A 2016 molecular phylogenetic analysis of Tectariaceae had separated two new genera, Draconopteris and Malaifilix, from Tectariasensu stricto. The analysis arranged the genera as in the following cladogram, where an alternative broader circumscription of Draconopteris has been added.[3]
^PPG I (2016), "A community-derived classification for extant lycophytes and ferns", Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 54 (6): 563–603, doi:10.1111/jse.12229, S2CID39980610
^Zhang, Liang; Schuettpelz, Eric; Rothfels, Carl J.; Zhou, Xin-Mao; Gao, Xin-Fen & Zhang, Li-Bing (2016), "Circumscription and phylogeny of the fern family Tectariaceae based on plastid and nuclear markers, with the description of two new genera: Draconopteris and Malaifilix (Tectariaceae)", Taxon, 65 (4): 723–738, doi:10.12705/654.3