Marasmodes is a small genus from the family Asteraceae; it consists of 13 species.  Historically, de Candolle first formed the genus Marasmodes in 1837. This genus was then revised by Hutchinson in 1917 and was further described by Magee and Manning in 2010. Ortiz later described 8 new species in 2009, and the most recent revision was conducted by Magee, Ebrahim, Koopman and von Staden in 2017, where 2 new species were described and 2 were removed. M. trifida was one of the new species described by Ortiz in 2009.

Marasmodes is characterized by its ericoid leaves that are entire to divided and sessile to subsessile and discoid flower heads that are homogamous (i.e. they are made up of one type of floret, either all ray florets or all disc florets – in this case all disc florets). These flower heads are solitary or in groups and are attached to a flat receptacle without pits.

The genus is closely related to Cymbopappus B.Nord. and Pentzia Thunb., but differs from them by its inconspicuous woody habit with sclerophyllous ericoid leaves, sessile discoid flower heads and a pappus of more than 7 scales, which make this genus cryptic.

The name Marasmodes is derived from the Greek marasmus, meaning ‘a wasting away’ and odes, meaning ‘resembling’, because the plants look lean and ill-fed. The species name trifida means ‘trifid’ and refers to the arrangement of the leaves, where the tips are partly or wholly split into 3 lobes. M. trifida has gained its common name ‘trifid autumn-aster’, from its trifid leaves and the unusual autumn flowering time for all the Marasmodes, where most other fynbos plants are waiting for the winter rain in order to flower.