1881 Flora Brasiliensis, Carl Georg Oscar Drude recognised 17 species. João Barbosa Rodrigues recognised 28 species in his 1903 work Setum Palmarum Brasiliensis.

Max Burret published a revision of the entire genus in 1934. Burret described nine new species and ended up recognising a total of 41 species. In the 1940s, Liberty Hyde Bailey added 14 additional species to the genus Desmoncus. Jan Wessels Boer