 According to OED the genus was named after Johann Georg Volckamer (1616-1693), a German botanist, though other sources give credit to his son, Johann Georg Volckamer, the Younger (1662-1744), or to Johann Christoph Volkamer (1644-1720), another German botanist.In 1895, John Isaac Briquet defined the genus "Clerodendrum" broadly, to include all of those species now placed in "Rotheca", "Clerodendrum", "Volkameria", and "Ovieda".This was considered questionable by many, but for the next 100 years, Briquet's circumscription was usually followed, mostly because of confusion and uncertainty regarding this group of at least 200 species.