The type specimen for this species was collected from the Port Jackson area (Sydney district) and was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810, who gave it the specific epithet juniperina which alludes to its juniper-like foliage.
Likewise it is commonly known as juniper- or juniper-leaf grevillea, as well as prickly spider-flower.
The lectotype was selected by Don MacGillivray in 1993 from a collection by George Caley in 1803 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Prospect in what is now Sydney's outer western suburbs.
Brown placed it in the series Lissostylis in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.

English botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham collected what he called Grevillea sulphurea in 1822 near Coxs River in the Bathurst area, where it grew alongside G. rosmarinifolia and G. arenaria subspecies canescens.
This was later synonymised with G. juniperina, before being recognised as a distinct subspecies.

George Bentham placed G. juniperina in Section Lissostylis in his 1870 Flora Australiensis.
This section has become the Linearifolia group of 45 species of shrub in southeastern Australia.
Within this group, G. juniperina is classified in the Speciosa subgroup, five species of bird-pollinated grevilleas found in eastern Australia.
The others are G. molyneuxii, G. dimorpha, G. oleoides and G. speciosa.

There are seven subspecies of Grevillea juniperina, six of which have been recognised or described by Bob Makinson of the New South Wales Herbarium in 2000:
G. juniperina subsp.
allojohnsonii Makinson – is found on the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes in northern New South Wales, from Walcha north to Tenterfield and Stanhope and Girraween National Park in southern Queensland.
It is a prostrate shrub to 30 cm (12 in) high with red flowers.

G. juniperina subsp.
amphitricha Makinson – is a prostrate or spreading shrub with yellow or orange flowers that grows to 0.2–1.2 m (⁵⁄₈–3 ⁷⁄₈ ft) tall and 3 m (10 ft) wide.
It is found between Braidwood and Nerriga in the Shoalhaven River catchment on the Southern Tablelands.

G. juniperina subsp.
fortis Makinson – is a vigorous red-flowered shrub growing to 1–3 m (3–10 ft) tall that is found on rocky hills and slopes near watercourses—specifically along Ginninderra Creek, the lower reaches of the Molonglo and Cotter Rivers, and the Murrumbidgee River from Pine Island downstream to where it is joined by the Molonglo River—mostly within the Australian Capital Territory.

G. juniperina subsp.
juniperina – is endemic to Western Sydney, restricted to clay soils from Blacktown west to Penrith and Marsden Park and north to Pitt Town.
It is listed as a vulnerable species on Schedule 2 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 in New South Wales.
Its habitat is threatened by housing development, road upgrading, inappropriate fire regimes, weed invasion, rubbish dumping and trampling either by people or cars.
It grows as a spreading shrub that is 0.5–1.5 m (1.5–5 ft) high.

G. juniperina subsp.
sulphurea (A.Cunn.)
Makinson (formerly var.
trinervata) – is a shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) high that grows on alluvial soils and along riverbanks.
It is found in the catchments of the Coxs, Kowmung, Wollondilly and Shoalhaven Rivers in the Central and Southern Tablelands, from Tallong to Berrima, as well as Lidsdale to Jenolan State Forest in the southwestern Blue Mountains.
It hybridises with G. juniperina subsp.
trinervis in the southern and western Blue Mountains.

G. juniperina subsp.
trinervis (R.Br.)
Makinson (formerly Grevillea trinervis) – is a prickly shrub with a spreading or prostrate habit ranging from 0.5 to 1.2, or rarely 2, m (20 in–7 ft) high and yellow, orange or red flowers.
It is found in the western Blue Mountains.

G. juniperina subsp.
villosa Makinson – is an upright red- or yellow-flowered shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) high found along watercourses in eucalypt forest east and northeast of Braidwood, as well as Currockbilly in southeastern New South Wales.
The type specimen for this species was collected from the Port Jackson area (Sydney district) and was described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810, who gave it the specific epithet juniperina which alludes to its juniper-like foliage. Likewise it is commonly known as juniper- or juniper-leaf grevillea, as well as prickly spider-flower. The lectotype was selected by Don MacGillivray in 1993 from a collection by George Caley in 1803 11 km (7 mi) northwest of Prospect in what is now Sydney's outer western suburbs. Brown placed it in the series Lissostylis in his 1810 work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.
English botanist and explorer Allan Cunningham collected what he called Grevillea sulphurea in 1822 near Coxs River in the Bathurst area, where it grew alongside G. rosmarinifolia and G. arenaria subspecies canescens. This was later synonymised with G. juniperina, before being recognised as a distinct subspecies.
George Bentham placed G. juniperina in Section Lissostylis in his 1870 Flora Australiensis. This section has become the Linearifolia group of 45 species of shrub in southeastern Australia. Within this group, G. juniperina is classified in the Speciosa subgroup, five species of bird-pollinated grevilleas found in eastern Australia. The others are G. molyneuxii, G. dimorpha, G. oleoides and G. speciosa.
There are seven subspecies of Grevillea juniperina, six of which have been recognised or described by Bob Makinson of the New South Wales Herbarium in 2000:
G. juniperina subsp. allojohnsonii Makinson – is found on the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes in northern New South Wales, from Walcha north to Tenterfield and Stanhope and Girraween National Park in southern Queensland. It is a prostrate shrub to 30 cm (12 in) high with red flowers.
G. juniperina subsp. amphitricha Makinson – is a prostrate or spreading shrub with yellow or orange flowers that grows to 0.2–1.2 m (⁵⁄₈–3 ⁷⁄₈ ft) tall and 3 m (10 ft) wide. It is found between Braidwood and Nerriga in the Shoalhaven River catchment on the Southern Tablelands.
G. juniperina subsp. fortis Makinson – is a vigorous red-flowered shrub growing to 1–3 m (3–10 ft) tall that is found on rocky hills and slopes near watercourses—specifically along Ginninderra Creek, the lower reaches of the Molonglo and Cotter Rivers, and the Murrumbidgee River from Pine Island downstream to where it is joined by the Molonglo River—mostly within the Australian Capital Territory.
G. juniperina subsp. juniperina – is endemic to Western Sydney, restricted to clay soils from Blacktown west to Penrith and Marsden Park and north to Pitt Town. It is listed as a vulnerable species on Schedule 2 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 in New South Wales. Its habitat is threatened by housing development, road upgrading, inappropriate fire regimes, weed invasion, rubbish dumping and trampling either by people or cars. It grows as a spreading shrub that is 0.5–1.5 m (1.5–5 ft) high.
G. juniperina subsp. sulphurea (A.Cunn.) Makinson (formerly var. trinervata) – is a shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) high that grows on alluvial soils and along riverbanks. It is found in the catchments of the Coxs, Kowmung, Wollondilly and Shoalhaven Rivers in the Central and Southern Tablelands, from Tallong to Berrima, as well as Lidsdale to Jenolan State Forest in the southwestern Blue Mountains. It hybridises with G. juniperina subsp. trinervis in the southern and western Blue Mountains.
G. juniperina subsp. trinervis (R.Br.) Makinson (formerly Grevillea trinervis) – is a prickly shrub with a spreading or prostrate habit ranging from 0.5 to 1.2, or rarely 2, m (20 in–7 ft) high and yellow, orange or red flowers. It is found in the western Blue Mountains.
G. juniperina subsp. villosa Makinson – is an upright red- or yellow-flowered shrub up to 2 m (7 ft) high found along watercourses in eucalypt forest east and northeast of Braidwood, as well as Currockbilly in southeastern New South Wales.
Grevillea juniperina