In the fourth edition (1986) of Singer's comprehensive classification of the Agaricales, "G. marginata" is the type species of "Galerina" section "Naucoriopsis", a subdivision first defined by French mycologist Robert Kühner in 1935. It includes small brown-spored mushrooms characterized by cap edges initially curved inwards, fruit bodies resembling "Pholiota" or "Naucoria" and thin-walled, obtuse or acute-ended pleurocystidia that are not rounded at the top. Within this section, "G. autumnalis" and "G. oregonensis" are in "Autumnalis", while "G. unicolor", "G. marginata", and "G. venenata" are in stirps "Marginata". "Autumnalis" species are characterized by having a viscid to lubricous cap surface while "Marginata" species lack a gelatinous cap—the surface is moist, "fatty-shining", or matte when wet. However, as Gulden explains, this characteristic is highly variable: "Viscidity is a notoriously difficult character to assess because it varies with the age of the fruitbody and the weather conditions during its development. Varying degrees of viscidity tend to be described differently and applied inconsistently by different persons applying terms such as lubricous, fatty, fatty-shiny, sticky, viscid, glutinous, or (somewhat) slimy."