The precise taxonomy of the Ornithogaloideae/Ornithogaleae has been problematic since at least the time of Linnaeus. The Ornithogaloideae were one of four major clades within the Hyacinthaceae. Phylogenetic analysis subsumed all of that subfamily into the genus "Ornithogalum" with about 300 species. This "sensu lato" reduction of Speta's 14 genera into one was not widely accepted, though they were polyphyletic, and had a number of problems. (This also had the effect of eliminating "Galtonia" as a genus, under which a number of "Ornithogalum" species are still sold.)