 The specific epithet was derived from the Ancient Greek words "dolichos" "long" and "stylos" "pillar", in reference to the long styles.Botanist and plant taxonomist Kevin Thiele analysed the morphometrics in his cladistic paper of 1996, and announced that the Ironcap banksia warranted specific status.He analysed "Banksia micrantha" as the sister group to the pair of "B. sphaerocarpa" var.