 B. telmatiaea was first collected around 1840 by Ludwig Preiss and James Drummond . For many years it was included in B. sphaerocarpa , but by 1980 it was recognised as a distinct species . In recognition of its distinctness from , yet affinity with , B. sphaerocarpa , it was for a time informally referred to as Banksia aff . Sphaerocarpa . It was eventually published by Alex George in his 1981 monograph The genus Banksia L.f. ( Proteaceae ) , based on a specimen collected by him on the Brand Highway about 45 km ( 28 mi ) north of Regans Ford on 14 May 1969 , and labelled " A. S. George 9309 " . He found it most closely resembled B. leptophylla , but regarded its preference for swampy rather than sandy soils and winter flowering as worthy of warranting species status . George gave it the specific name telmatiaea from the Greek stem telmat- / τελματ- ( " the mud of a pond " ) , in reference to its swampy habitat . Thus the full name for the species is Banksia telmatiaea A.S.George. Common names for B. telmatiaea include swamp fox banksia and marsh banksia . 
