 Before 1996 it was classified in genus "Dacrydium" or "Lagarostrobos", but has recently been recognised as a distinct genus; some botanists still treat it in "Lagarostrobos" on the basis that it is not phylogenetically distinct from that genus.In molecular phylogenetic analyses "Manoao" was found to be related to "Parasitaxus" (a parasitic and monotypic genus from New Caledonia) and "Lagarostrobos" (a single species from Tasmania when narrowly defined), but their exact relationships are unresolved.