As far as we know, Margaret Levyns was the first to collect of the Robinson pincushion in 1938 on the Rooiberg Pass, south of Calitzdorp. Since it also can be found on the north facing slopes of the Outeniqua Mountains near the Attaquas Kloof, which was traveled by Francis Masson, Carl Peter Thunberg and other collectors, it is curious that this striking shrub seems to have been overlooked for a very long time. John Patrick Rourke realised it was a new species, which he described in 1970 and called Leucospermum pluridens.