It is an erect shrub or slender tree with divided leaves with four to twelve narrow lobes, and creamy white to bright scarlet and yellow flowers.

Flowering occurs from August to October and the fruit is a glabrous follicle 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in) long.

[3] Grevillea banksii was first formally described in 1810 by the botanist Robert Brown in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.

[7] Banks' grevillea is mostly found on the Queensland coast from Ipswich to Yeppoon, but sometimes further inland.

Threats to this species include habitat clearing for development and agriculture and weed invasion, particularly from naturalized pasture grasses.