William Henry Harvey, an Irish botanist, divided the genus Pelargonium into 15 sections. The indicative features for the different sections were based on leaf and flower characteristics and the habitat in which they occurred. Pelargonium odoratissimum is classified under the section Cortusina. This section consists of half- shrubs with fleshy, thick and short stems which have persistent stipules. The leaves are reniform (kidney-shaped) or cordate, silky or woolly, palmately lobed (like fingers on a hand) and are borne on lengthy petioles. The five petals are sub equal, the upper two being broader than the lower petals. The section contains well-known species such as P. reniforme and P. sidoides. People often refer to pelargoniums as geraniums.

The genus Pelargonium belongs in the family Geraniaceae, a large cosmopolitan family of approximately 11 genera and 800 species in subtropical and temperate family found in many regions of the world. The South African genera in the Geraniaceae family are Monsonia, Sarcocaulon, Pelargonium, Erodium and Geranium. There are approximately 270 species of Pelargonium which occur in S, E and NE Africa, Asia, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Madagascar, Australia and New Zealand, most of which (± 219 species) occur in southern Africa.

Pelargonium received its name from the resemblance of the shape of the fruit to the beak of a stork, which is pelargos in Greek. The specific name odoratissimus (Latin), most fragrant, refers to the sweet smell of the leaves. This species was introduced in 1724 into the United Kingdom where it was grown in the Chelsea Garden.