The genus Tulbaghia was named by Linnaeus after Rijk Tulbagh, Governor of the Cape Colony 1751-71. He was born in Holland in 1699, enlisted with the Dutch East India Company and sailed to South Africa in 1716 and died in Cape Town in 1771. He corresponded with Linnaeus over a long period, and sent him more than 200 plant specimens. This genus was first described from material sent by Tulbagh in 1769.

This species is named after Paul Simmler, chief gardener of the Boissier Collections in Geneva, who cultivated the specimens collected in the Transvaal by H.A. Junod. It was first described in 1908 by the Swiss botanist Gustave Beauverd (1867-1942) who based the description on material collected by Junod. In the 1907 Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier Beauverd makes a special mention of Mr. Simmler, the skillful gardener who cultivated a single living specimen of Streptocarpus junodii, also collected in the Transvaal by Junod, and it is from this specimen, which bloomed in 1907, that he made the description of Streptocarpus junodii.

Synonyms for this species are T. pulchella P.E.Barnes, T. daviesii Grey and T. fragrans I.Verd.

The genus Tulbaghia consists of 21 species found in Africa, mostly in southern Africa. They are characterised by the strong onion or garlic smell given off by their leaves and flower stems when bruised or cut. The best known garden ornamental is probably Tulbaghia violacea (Wild Garlic), although T. simmleri is also widely cultivated.