The species was first described by Robert Allen Rolfe in 1982 as Habenaria faberi, although he later transferred it to Gymnadenia. It was later transferred again to Amitostigma.[2] 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 Amitostigma faberi then becoming Ponerorchis faberi.[3] The genus Ponerorchis has since been synonymized with the genus Hemipilia, resulting in the present name.
