Banksia glaucifolia is a shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 endemic to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

It was known as Dryandra glauca until 2007, when all Dryandra species were transferred to Banksia

Banksia

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...

by Austin Mast

Austin Mast

Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently an associate professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University , and has been director of FSU's since August 2003.One of his...

 and Kevin Thiele

Kevin Thiele

Kevin R. Thiele is curator of the Western Australian Herbarium. His research interests include the systematics of the plant families Proteaceae, Rhamnaceae and Violaceae, and the conservation ecology of grassy woodland ecosystems...

. The name "Banksia glauca" had already been published in reference to Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia

Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia

Banksia integrifolia subsp. integrifolia is a subspecies of Banksia integrifolia.-Description:B. integrifolia subsp. integrifolia can be distinguished from the other subspecies of B. integrifolia by its slightly smaller, broader leaves, which are also somewhat duller than those of...

 so Mast and Thiele were forced to choose a new specific epithet; their choice, "glaucifolia", retains the original use of "glauca", from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

glaucus ("blue-grey"), combining it with the Latin folium ("leaf"). Thus the name refers to the blue-grey leaves of the species.