It has hairy stems, pinnatipartite to pinnatisect leaves with sharply-pointed lobes, pink to gold-coloured flowers in heads of about 100, and egg-shaped follicles.

Flowering occurs from July to August and the follicles are egg-shaped, 12–15 mm (0.47–0.59 in) long and hairy in the lower half.

[2][3] This species was first formally described in 1988 by Roderick Peter Randall who gave it the name Dryandra shanklandiorum and published the description in Botanische Jahrbücher für Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie from specimens he collected near Dowerin in 1985.

[5][6] Banksia shanklandiorum grows in tall shrubland between Cadoux and Hyden in the Avon Wheatbelt biogeographic region.

This banksia is classified as "Priority Four" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Parks and Wildlife,[2] meaning that is rare or near threatened.