The leaves are hard and spine-tipped, much longer than wide, and either cylindrical or somewhat flattened.

[3] Hoplophyllum is derived from two Greek words, hoplon "a tool or weapon" and phyllon "a leaf", a reference to the spiny leaves.

de Candolle[5] when he assigned Hoplophyllum spinosum to this genus in his classic work Prodromus Systematis Naturalis Regni Vegetabilis.

[6] This species had originally been named Pteronia spinosa by Linnaeus filius in 1782 in his book Supplementum Plantarum.

[7] The closest relative of Hoplophyllum is Eremothamnus, another native of southern Africa.