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The genus was described by Robert Brown in 1810 from specimens that he sighted in most Australian states, as a member of Matthew Flinders' mapping and exploration voyage that circumnavigated Australia.
The Swan coastal plain is a particularly important centre for certain types of plant including banksia but also Caladenia orchids and Leucopogon shrubs, indeed some genera, such as the Dryandra series of banksia and the Synaphea flowers are found nowhere else in the world.