The genus Alstroemeria was originally described by Johan Peter Falk and his thesis supervisor Carl Linnaeus in his 1762 dissertation Planta Alströmeria, with three species, including A. pelegrina. Consequently Linnaeus bears the botanical authority (L.). These species were then incorporated into the second edition of Linnaeus' Species plantarum (1763). As the first species described, it is the type species of the genus.
