The genus Lotononis previously consisted of about 150 species, before some were reclassified into other genera. It currently consists of about 99 species of woody or herbaceous herbs and shrublets. The name Lotononis is actually a combination of two genus names, Lotus and Ononis. The species name means ‘resembling Lotononis’. Lotononis lotononoides was first described as Buchenroedera lotononoides by Scott Elliot in 1891, from a specimen collected by Drège in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It was reclassified and given its current accepted name, Lotononis lotononoides, by the botanist Ben-Erik van Wyk, in 1991.

The genus Lotononis falls under the Fabaceae which is also known as the pea, bean or legume family, and it ranks as the third-largest family of flowering plants, after Orchidaceae and Asteraceae. It consists of ±770 genera and more than 19 000 species worldwide. The word Fabaceae is derived from the Latin word faba which means ‘bean'. Members of this family are found across a broad range of habitats and exhibit a wide variety of growth forms, including annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees. Plants in this family are easily identified by their fruits and compound leaves. The fruits are pods and they split open along the seams when the seeds are mature.

Other noteworthy southern African members of this family include Aspalathus linearis (rooibos tea), Erythrina lysistemon (common coral tree or lucky bean tree), Elephantorrhiza elephantina (elephant's root or elandsboontjie), Vachellia and Senegalia (thorn trees, both previously known as Acacia).