Banksia densa is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. It was known as Dryandra conferta until 2007, when all Dryandra species were transferred to Banksia by Austin Mast and Kevin Thiele. As there was already a plant named Banksia conferta (Glasshouse Banksia), Mast and Thiele were forced to choose a new specific epithet; their choice, "densa", is from the Latin densus ("thick, close, compact"), in reference to the way the leaves are densely crowded around the inflorescences.