TaxonomyThe genus Cleretum was erected by Nicholas Edward Brown in 1925. It was established in 1985 that Cleretum was validly published, and that Micropterum was a later synonym. Cleretum is placed in the tribe Dorotheantheae. A study in 2012 concluded that the genera previously separated in the Dorotheantheae did not differ sufficiently to be recognized, and placed them all in Cleretum, now the only genus in the tribe.