Although Banksia attenuata was the common banksia in Australian children's author May Gibbs' own childhood in Western Australia, the old flower spikes of Banksia aemula with their large follicles are thought to have been the inspiration for the villains of her Snugglepot and Cuddlepie books, the "Big Bad Banksia Men".
His compositions include original music for various plays, films (such as Three Dollars and The Bank) and TV series (including Love My Way), and the musical theatre works Jonah Jones, Orlando Rourke, and the musical Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for the Sydney Festival 2007 at the Theatre Royal.
Perhaps the best known cultural reference to Banksia is the "big bad Banksia men" of May Gibbs' children's book Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.
Both this species and B. aemula have been credited with the inspiration behind May Gibbs' Big Bad Banksia Men; this species was familiar to Gibbs in her childhood and likely gave her the initial inspiration, although the depictions resemble the latter species.