sentences:  This banksia was first formally described in 1996 by Alex George in the journal "Nuytsia" and given the name "Dryandra columnaris" from specimens he collected in 1969 in the Boyagin Nature Reserve near Brookton.In 2007, Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele transferred all the dryandras to the genus "Banksia" and this species became "Banksia columnaris".The specific epithet ("columnaris") is a Latin word meaning "column-like", referring to the habit of this species.