The species was first described in 1940 by Tsin Tang and Fa Tsuan Wang, as
Amitostigma simplex. A
molecular phylogenetic study in 2014 found that species of
Amitostigma,
Neottianthe and
Ponerorchis were mixed together in a single
clade, making none of the three genera
monophyletic as then
circumscribed.
Amitostigma and
Neottianthe were subsumed into
Ponerorchis, with this species then becoming
Ponerorchis simplex. The genus
Ponerorchis has since been synonymized with the genus
Hemipilia, resulting in the present name. == References ==