"Astroloma humifusum" was initially described as "Ventenatia humifusa" by Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles in 1797, before being given its current binomial name by prolific Scottish botanist Robert Brown in his 1810 work "Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae".Brown also described a second species, "Astroloma denticulatum", based on plant material that he had collected at Memory Cove in South Australia.