Species of Roscoea divide into two clear groups, a Himalayan clade and a Chinese clade (which includes some species from outside China). The two clades correspond to a geographical separation, their main distributions being divided by the Brahmaputra River as it flows south at the end of the Himalayan mountain chain. It has been suggested that the genus may have originated in this area and then spread westwards along the Himalayas and eastwards into the mountains of China and its southern neighbours. R. auriculata falls into the Himalayan clade as would be expected from its distribution. It appears to be closely related to R. alpina.