north of Woodanilling on 7 October 1986, and a specimen collected by Ken Newbey east of Katanning. George's specimen was recognised as belonging to an undescribed species, and this species was referred to by the phrase name "Dryandra sp. 1 (A.S. George 16647)", until 1996, when George formally published it as Dryandra acanthopoda. The specific name is said to be derived from Greek acantha, "a thorn or prickle" and podos, "a foot", in reference to the spines on the petiole. The Greek word for "foot" is pous (πούς). George placed B. acanthopoda in genus Dryandra, subgenus Dryandra, series Armatae, remarking that its closest relative is Dryandra polycephala (now Banksia polycephala). Its placement within George's taxonomic arrangement of Dryandra, with 1999 and 2005 amendments, is as follows: Dryandra (now Banksia ser. Dryandra) D. subg. Dryandra D. ser. Floribundae (1 species, 4 varieties) D. ser. Armatae D. cuneata (now B. obovata) D. fuscobractea (now B. fuscobractea) D. armata (now B. armata) (2 varieties) D. prionotes (now B. prionophyllaD. arborea (now B. arborea)D. hirsuta (now B. hirta)D. pallida (now B. pallida)D. purdieana (now B. purdieana)D. xylothemelia (now B. xylothemelia)D. cirsioides (now B. cirsioides)D. acanthopoda (now B. acanthopoda)D. squarrosa (now B. squarrosa) (2 subspecies)D. hewardiana (now B. hewardiana)D. wonganensis (now B. wonganensis)D. trifontinalis (now B. trifontinalis)D. stricta (now B. strictifolia)D. echinata (now B. echinata)D. polycephala (now B. polycephala)D. subpinnatifida (now B. subpinnatifida) (2 varieties)D. longifolia (now B. prolata) (3 subspecies)D. borealis (now B. borealis) (2 subspecies) This arrangement remained current until 2007, when botanists Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred Dryandra into Banksia. They also published B. subgenus Spathulatae for the Banksia taxa having spoon-shaped cotyledons, thus redefining the subgenus Banksia as comprising those that do not. They were not ready, however, to tender an infrageneric arrangement encompassing Dryandra, so as an interim measure they transferred Dryandra into Banksia at series rank. This minimised the nomenclatural disruption of the transfer, but also caused George's rich infrageneric arrangement to be set aside. Thus under the interim arrangements implemented by Mast and Thiele, B. acanthopoda is placed in B. subg. Banksia, ser. Dryandra. Distribution and habitat Only a few small populations of B. acanthopoda exist. Until 1999, it was thought to occur only in the Avon Wheatbelt biogeographic region, in the vicinity of Woodanilling and Katanning; since then, a population has been found in the Jarrah Forest region, south of Darkan.Banksia acanthopoda grows in tall closed