The earliest valid and available name for a group of previously named Clerodendrum species was established as Rotheca by Rafinesque in 1836, who derived it from Latinising two Malaysian names, cheriya, meaning small, and thekku, meaning teak.

The species name louwalbertsii was chosen in honour of Dr Louw Alberts, a well-known South African scientist and Christian. He held a Doctorate in Physics and was awarded three honorary doctorates. He was inter alia vice president of the then Atomic Energy Board, Director-General of the Department of Mineral and Energy Affairs, chairman of the board of the CSIR, and chairman of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (an academy for science and art). He played a leading role in the peace initiatives during the 1990s. His philosophy about science and religion: 'To me, the written word (the Bible) and the created word (natural science) have the same author - God - and a wonderful harmony exists between the two'.

The genus Rotheca comprises about 30 species in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, with one species in tropical Asia, eastwards to the Molucca Islands, and one species introduced and naturalised in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands (Fernandes 2005). About nine species are known from southern Africa.

Rotheca louwalbertsii was for a long time confused, misidentified and included in R. hirsuta (= Clerodendrum triphyllum ). Specimens of this taxon were already collected by Zeyher on the Magaliesberg, but it was only described as new in 1995 as Clerodendrum louwalbertsii ( Herman 1995). Based on certain morphological and molecular studies, some Clerodendrum species were transferred to Rotheca, which necessitated the new combination ( Herman & Retief 2002).

The genera Rotheca and Clerodendrum are distinguished as follows: in Rotheca, the flower buds are markedly asymmetrical, the corolla expanding abruptly on the lower side only, and the anterior corolla lobe is frequently much larger than the other four corolla lobes. The anthers are basifixed, and the stigma lobes are unequal. In Clerodendrum, the flower buds are symmetrical or, if asymmetrical, usually expanding abruptly on the upper side due to resupination (the flower buds turn upside down because the pedicels (flower stalks) are twisted through 180º), the anterior corolla lobe is only slightly (if at all) larger than the other corolla lobes, the anthers are versatile, and the stigma lobes are equal.

R. louwalbertsii can be distinguished from R. hirsuta by the long, drawn-out terminal inflorescences (thyrsoid inflorescence) and the linear leaves. In R. hirsuta the flowers are arranged in cymes in the axils of the lower leaves and the leaves range from narrowly obovate to obovate to elliptic.