The genus name Chascanum comes from chascanon, which is a name used by the first century A.D. Greek physician Dioscorides for the species Xanthium strumarium (cockle bur). In those days it was quite effective in colouring hair yellow. In the area of classical theatre chascanum refers to a mask with a wide-open mouth which alludes to the wide-open flower tube.

Chascanum gariepense is a South African indigenous species that forms a rounded willowy shrub up to 1 meter tall. From spring to autumn it bears long spikes of tubular white flowers.