[3][4][5] Grevillea montis-cole was first formally described in 1983 by Raymond Vaughan Smith in the journal Muelleria from specimens he collected in the Mount Cole State Forest in 1965.

[5][6] In the same journal, Smith described two subspecies and the names are accepted by the Australian Plant Census: Evidence from preliminary genetic data combined with morphological and habitat differences indicates that Grevillea montis-cole subsp.

[15] Subspecies brevistyla occurs on the upper slopes of Mount Langi Ghiran at an altitude of 800–900 m (2,600–3,000 ft) among granitic outcrops.

[16][9] Other plant species found in close proximity include bundy (Eucalyptus goniocalyx), shiny tea-tree (Leptospermum turbinatum), wedge-leaf hop-bush (Dodonaea viscosa subsp.

It grows as an understorey shrub in tall eucalypt forest on soil derived from decomposed granite at an altitude of about 500–900 m (1,600–3,000 ft).