Monodora junodii was described from two late 19th century specimens, one collected by Rev. Junod at Delagoa Bay, the other by the ubiquitous F.R.R. Schlechter at Lourenço Marques (both of these place names indicate the area surrounding Maputo, Mozambique). The genus name is derived from two Greek words, monos meaning one and doron meaning a gift; the combination refers to the solitary flowers of this tree. In the cartoon below, Ettie seems to be quite pleased with her single flower.

The specific epithet honours Rev. Henri Alexandre Junod (1863-1934), a missionary stationed for much of his career at Shiluvane in Limpopo Province . His collection of plants from there, the lowveld of Mpumalanga and parts of Mozambique, is an important early historical record of the flora of these areas. Fifteen species of Monodora have been described from tropical Africa, of which only M. junodii extends southwards to South Africa . There are probably a few more species in the equatorial rain forests awaiting description. The pantropical family Annonaceae includes some 112 genera and over 2000 species (Mabberley 1997). Although the family itself is relatively clearly defined, relationships of genera within the family are anything but clear. However, Monodora and Isolona (also tropical African) are usually regarded as forming a group separable from the other genera, and this group has been described as the subfamily Monodoroideae.