The species is known by many common names, including black speargrass, tanglehead, steekgras (in Afrikaans) and pili (in Hawaiian, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *pilit₁ "to adhere/stick").
The species is known by various common names, including black speargrass, tanglehead, steekgras (Afrikaans), and pili (Hawaiian, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *pilit₁ "to adhere/stick").