 In 1985, two volunteer field collectors for "The Banksia Atlas" project, John and Lalage Falconer of Esperance, became convinced that there were three "Banksia" species rather than two at Point Culver.Returning to the locality on 9 January 1986, they collected leaves and old flowers of what they thought was an undescribed species.The specimens did indeed suggest that a new species had been discovered, but they were not sufficient for formal publication.