Anemone vesicatoria was previously known as Knowltonia vesicatoria. The genus Knowltonia was established by Salisbury in 1796 for the southern African species of Ranunculaceae previously placed in the genus Adonis. However, it was soon realised that Knowltonia was more closely allied to Anemone and it was formally included in Anemone by Prantl in 1891. Later South African botanists reinstated Knowltonia as a separate genus, although the differences between them are slight, the main one being that Knowltonia has a fleshy fruit wall whereas it is dry in Anemone. A wide morphological and molecular study of many species in the Ranunculaceae in 1994 concluded that Knowltonia should be included within Anemone, however it was only formally subsumed within Anemone again in 2009. It is now recognized as a lineage of Anemone that has radiated in southern Africa.

Part of the Ranunculaceae family, Anemone includes many popular garden perennials with colourful, cup-shaped flowers. There are 11 species in South Africa. Anemone vesicatoria was the first southern African species of Anemone known to European botanists. l'Obel described it as ‘Ranunculus perelegans D. Franqueville, foliis aculeatis’ in 1655. It is distinguished from the other species by being glabrate (hairless) and by the characteristic teeth of the leaf margin.

Three subspecies of Anemone vesicatoria are recognized:
The subspecies vesicatoria is 200–600 mm, rarely taller than 600 mm, with an erect rhizome with short internodes and light yellow-green flowers in spring (Aug. to Oct.). It grows in humus rich soil in shaded, wooded patches and in moist ravines on the Cape Peninsula to the Bokkeveld to Groot Winterhoek.
The subspecies grossa is a robust plant, 0.6–1.2 m tall, with white to cream to purple flowers at any time of the year, mostly in summer. It occurs in forest and scrub forest in sandy soil on the southern coast from Swellendam to Tsitsikamma. It is geographically separated from subsp. vesicatoria but is commonly cultivated and may have escaped in regions where it did not previously occur.
The subspecies humilis is a small plant, 100–360 mm tall, with a procumbent rhizome with elongated internodes, and light yellow-green to brownish flowers in autumn, winter or spring. Occurs in exposed habitats, in sandy soil, on dunes, in coastal bush and fynbos on the southern coast from Mossel Bay to East London.

The name Anemone comes from a Greek legend where red anemones grew on Mount Olympus from blood shed by Adonis when he was killed by a wild boar. The name is derived from an ancient word, nahamea, meaning ‘handsome’, which is also the meaning of Adonis. The species name vesicatoria is from the Latin vesicare that means ‘to raise blisters’, this refers to the strong allergic reaction caused by the leaves and roots. The common names blisterleaf and brandblaar (meaning burn-leaf) also refers to the allergic skin reaction. The subspecies name grossa means ‘large’ and humilis means ‘low-growing’, referring to their habit. The genus Knowltonia was named after Thomas Knowlton (1691–1781), an eminent English gardener at the botanical garden at Eltham.