There is a legend that links these plants to the people of Namaqualand. Their name come from their resemblace with standing human shapes. Nama folklore provides an explanation for this: a tribe which once occupied a more habitable part of southern Namibia was driven southwards after a long and bloody conflict. Eventually its members, found themselves fleeing to the Richtersveld, a forsaken mountain desert with a fiercely broken landscape that must have been created by the gods in a moment of rage. Overcome by grief and longing for their homeland, a few among the tribe paused to gaze northward for the last time. The gods took pity on these wretched souls and turned them into half humans or halfmens in order to comfort them with a distant view of their lost homeland for eternity.