The flower spikes, known as inflorescences, arise at the ends of branchlets, appearing from late April to October, with a peak over July and August.

[2] This series was discarded in the 1870 arrangement of George Bentham; instead, B. hookeriana was placed in section Orthostylis, which Bentham defined as consisting of those Banksia species with flat leaves with serrated margins, and rigid, erect styles that "give the cones after the flowers have opened a different aspect".

[10] This application of the principle of priority was largely ignored by Kuntze's contemporaries,[11] and Banksia L.f. was formally conserved and Sirmuellera rejected in 1940.

[12] In 1981, Alex George published a revised arrangement that placed B. hookeriana 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. hookeriana 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.

[18] Banksia hookeriana readily hybridises with B. prionotes under experimental conditions, indicating that these species have highly compatible pollen.

'Waite Orange' is believed to be such a hybrid, having arisen by open pollination during a breeding experiment conducted at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute of the University of Adelaide in 1988.

The resultant F1 hybrids are fully fertile, with seed production rates similar to that of the parent species.

For example, the first putative hybrids studied had a habit "like that of gigantic B. hookerana [sic]", having inherited the size of B. prionotes, together with B. hookeriana's tendency to branch from near the base of the trunk.

[21] It occurs on sandplain shrubland between Arrowsmith and Eneabba and specifically on the Gingin scarp and Dandaragan plateau in Western Australia,[2] found on flat or gently sloping land.

[2] Like many plants in Australia's southwest, Banksia hookeriana is adapted to an environment in which bushfire events are relatively frequent.

[23] Changing climate conditions and more frequent fire intervals have impacted on the species' reproductive rate.

[23] Plants growing on road verges are up to 30% taller with larger canopies and many more old flower spikes, hence storing over four times as many seeds.

[25] B. hookeriana has been shown to be highly susceptible to dieback from the soil-borne water mould Phytophthora cinnamomi, unlike many Western Australian banksias.

[citation needed] Banksia hookeriana is highly regarded in the cut flower industry,[18] and has markets both in and outside Australia.