The species was first described scientifically by French mycologist Joseph-Henri Léveillé in 1846 [REF].
In a 1978 classification of the genus Clavaria, Ronald Petersen placed C. zollingeri in the subgenus Clavaria, a grouping of species with clamp connections absent from all septa in the fruit body; others in the subgenus included C. purpurea, C. fumosa, and the type, C. vermicularis [REF].