Robert Brown was familiar with Labillardière's work when he arrived in Australia on under Matthew Flinders in late 1801. His diary suggests that he collected "B. repens" from King George Sound, which would be interesting considering that it does not occur there today. His entry for 13 December 1801 refers to having observed in fruit a plant the name of which is illegible. The editors of Brown's diary suggest that the word "looks like "bankarepen", which might appear to hint at "Banksia repens"." On 28 December, Brown records packing plants into boxes, including "the interesting Banksia repens of wch I took care to he several excellnt plants." The editors of Brown's diary also claim to have located in the British Museum (Natural History) specimens of "B. repens" collected by Brown at King George Sound, but the "Robert Brown's Australian Botanical Specimens, 1801–1805 at the BM" online database, maintained by the Western Australian Herbarium, lists only specimens collected by Brown further east at Lucky Bay.