 Banksia prionotes was first published by English botanist John Lindley in the January 1840 issue of his A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony ; hence the species ' standard author citation is Banksia prionotes <unk> . He did not specify the type material upon which he based the species , but A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony is based primarily upon the collections of early settler and botanist James Drummond . A sheet of mounted specimens at the University of Cambridge Herbarium ( <unk> ) , labelled " Swan River , Drummond , 1839 " and annotated " Banksia prionotes m " in Lindley 's hand , has since been designated the lectotype . Lindley also made no mention of the etymology of the specific epithet , " prionotes " , but it is assumed to be derived from the Ancient Greek prion ( " saw " ) and <unk> ( " quality " ) , referring to the serrated leaf margins . 
