[1][3] The specific epithet scintillans was chosen with help from Alex George and derives from the Latin word scintillo which means "to sparkle".

[1] This refers to the distinct sparkly droplets on young leaves which is especially apparent in direct sun.

[8][9] Within the complex, it is in an informal clade called the eastern group, along with T. basedowii, T. birriliburu, T. nana, and T.

[1] The two species possibly hybridize where the ranges overlap near Roy Hill Station.

[1] A more recent study on chloroplast DNA indicated that the closest relative of T. scinitillans is T. basedowii instead of T.

[11] Triodia scintillans is endemic to Western Australia and found north of the Fortescue River valley in the Mackay subregion of the Great Sandy Desert and the Chichester and Fortescue subregions of the Pilbara shrublands.

[5] The sheath opening is villous or woolly with 1.5–2.5 mm trichomes (hairs) that sometimes wear off on older leaves.

[1] The lower glume is 2.5–4 by 4–7.8 mm and slightly scabrous to glabrous with an acuminate to acute apex.

[1] The keel has a thickened surface, the body less so, with the thickness becoming weaker towards the somewhat truncate and sometimes ciliate apex.