This species was described in 1838 by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus De Candolle and named in honour of the British cartographer John Arrowsmith (1790-1873), nephew of Aaron Arrowsmith, one of the most important publishers of maps in the 19th century. John began working for his uncle in 1810, and in 1834 published the London Atlas of Universal Geography, at the time the best map of its kind. In 1838 he took over the business begun by his uncle and carried on by his cousins Aaron Jr. and Samuel after their father's death, and produced excellent maps of many areas of the globe, including Australia, the Americas, Africa and India. He was a founding member of the Royal Geographical Society. (Alice Notten, pers. comm.; Wikipedia; cited at http://www.calflora.net/southafrica/1A-B.html ).

The specific name "styphelioides " may come from the Greek epithet meaning 'dense', perhaps referring to the compact habit or densely-arranged leaves. Alternatively, it could refer to a passing similarity between this plant and members of the Australian Ericaceae genus Styphelia. (http://anpsa.org.au/s-tub.html)

It is the only species in the genus, but it is closely related to the genus Macowania endemic to the Drakensberg.