[4] Burdett's banksia has 6–10 centimetres (2.4–3.9 in) cm high flower spikes, known as inflorescences, that prominently displayed on the ends of stems, appearing between the months of January and May,[2] peaking over February and March.

[5] Banksia burdettii was described in 1934 by Edmund Gilbert Baker, from a specimen grown from seed collected at Watheroo by one W. Burdett in 1930.

[6] In 1981, Alex George published a revised arrangement that placed B. prionotes in the subgenus Banksia because of its flower spike, section Banksia because its styles are straight rather than hooked, and the series Crocinae, a new series of four closely related species, all with bright orange perianths and pistils.

The placement of B. burdettii in George's 1999 arrangement may be summarised as follows:[4] Since 1998, American botanist Austin Mast has been publishing results of ongoing cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data for the subtribe Banksiinae, which includes Banksia.

[12] Found between Eneabba and Mogumber in Western Australia,[4] Banksia burdettii is locally common where it occurs.

[5] Banksia burdettii is very sensitive to bushfire, and plants are killed by even small fires, the old cones being highly combustible.

Optimal fire intervals generally fall between ten and twenty years, though it will reproduce outside this range.

[13] Carnaby's black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) eat seed from follicles, dropping old flower cones around the plant.

Once established the plant is resistant to both frost and drought, it prefers sun or light shade and well drained soils.