The peak was first mapped in 1576 during a voyage by the Portuguese navigator and cartographer, Manuel de Mesquita Perestrelo, when his ship put in at Plettenberg Bay, which he named 'Bahia Formosa' or 'beautiful bay'.
Places he marked on his chart were Cape da Boa Esperança, Cape False, Cape Agulhas, Cape Infanta, St Sebastian Bay, Cape St Blaize (Cabo de São Bras = Mossel Bay), Ponta Delgada (Point Slender = Robberg), Formosa Bay, Formosa Peak, St Francis Bay, Cabo de Arrecife (Cape Recife), St Lucia (landed there on 13 December 1575, day of the Feast of Santa Lucia),
Several rivers in the Western Cape have have been named Palmiet River for this species growing along their courses - two of the larger ones are the Palmiet River mouthing between Betty's Bay and Kleinmond, and one having its source just west of Formosa Peak and eventually joining the Keurbooms River.
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