''Synaphea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the macadamia family

Proteaceae The Proteaceae form a family (biology), family of flowering plants predominantly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The family comprises 83 genus, genera with about 1,660 known species. Australia and South Africa have the greatest concentr ...

, endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. It contains 56 species , which are mostly small shrubs with variably shaped leaves but consistently yellow flowers with an unusual pollination mechanism. The genus was erected by botanist

Robert Brown Robert Brown may refer to: Robert Brown (born 1965), British Director, Animator and author Entertainers and artists * Washboard Sam or Robert Brown (1910–1966), American musician and singer * Robert W. Brown (1917–2009), American printmaker ...

in 1810.

Description

Plants in the genus ''Synaphea'' are small shrubs, usually with deeply lobed ( pinnatipartite) leaves, although some have simple leaves, others

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

leaves, and have a

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

with a sheathing base. The flowers are relatively small, bright yellow, usually unscented, and arranged in a spike in leaf

axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s or on the ends of branchlets. The

perianth The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower. It is a structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla (petals) or tepal ...

is tube-shaped and

zygomorphic Floral symmetry describes whether, and how, a flower, in particular its perianth, can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts. Uncommonly, flowers may have no axis of symmetry at all, typically because their parts are spir ...

, the tube opening in the upper third to half. As in many other members of the Proteaceae, the male

anthers The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filamen ...

and female

style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

are initially in contact and the end of the style is a

pollen presenter A pollen-presenter is an area on the tip of the Stigma_(botany)#Style, style in flowers of plants of the family Proteaceae on which the Stamen#Morphology_and_terminology, anthers release their pollen prior to anthesis. To ensure pollination, the st ...

. In synapheas (and in ''

Conospermum ''Conospermum'' is a genus of about 50 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae that are endemic to Australia. Members of the genus are known as smokebushes - from a distance, their wispy heads of blue or grey flowers resemble puff ...

''), the anthers and stigma are held together under tension and only separate when touched by a pollinator, ejecting the

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

. The fruit is a hard-shelled nut, but in most species seed set is low.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Synaphea'' was first formally described in 1810 by

in ''

Transactions of the Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

''. The name ''Synaphea'' is from the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

word ''synaphe'' meaning "a connection" or "a union", referring to a connection between a sterile anther and the stigma.

Species

The following is a list of formally named ''Synaphea'' species and subspecies accepted by the

Australian Plant Census The Australian Plant Census (APC) provides an online interface to currently accepted, published, scientific names of the vascular flora of Australia, as one of the output interfaces of the national government Integrated Biodiversity Information Sys ...

as at April 2020: *''

Synaphea acutiloba ''Synaphea acutiloba'', commonly known as granite synaphea, is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a shrub with many stems with very wavy, pinnatipartite leaves, spike of yellow flowers much long ...

Meisn. Carl Daniel Friedrich Meissner (1 November 1800 – 2 May 1874) was a Swiss botanist. Biography Born in Bern, Switzerland on 1 November 1800, he was christened Meisner but later changed the spelling of his name to Meissner. For most of his 40 ...

- granite synaphea *''

Synaphea aephynsa ''Synaphea aephynsa'' is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect, tufted shrub with hairs pressed against the surface, pinnatipartite leaves, spike of crowded yellow flower ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea bifurcata ''Synaphea bifurcata'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The bushy shrub typically grows to a height of . The leaves have lobes with incisions that extend more than half-way toward the midrib, are deeply forked with a cuneate or fan shap ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea boyaginensis ''Synaphea boyaginensis'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between September and October producing yellow flowers. It is found in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia between Yo ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea brachyceras ''Synaphea brachyceras'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The small, round and prostrate shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between August and October producing yellow flowers. It is found on flats and gentle slopes amongs ...

'' R.Butcher *''

Synaphea canaliculata ''Synaphea canaliculata'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The low shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between August and October producing yellow flowers. It is found in a small area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Aus ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea cervifolia ''Synaphea cervifolia'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between June and October producing yellow flowers. It is found in a small area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia b ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea constricta ''Synaphea constricta'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The compact and tufted shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between June and September producing yellow flowers. It is found in a small area in the Wheatbelt region o ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea cuneata ''Synaphea cuneata'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The decumbent to ascending shrub blooms between September and October producing yellow flowers. It is found in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia where it grows in sandy-loam ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea damopsis ''Synaphea damopsis'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The decumbent shrub usually blooms between September and November producing yellow flowers. It is found in the southern Wheatbelt and South West regions of Western Australia where ...

'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea decorticans ''Synaphea decorticans'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The dense shrub typically grows to a height of . It blooms between September and October producing yellow flowers. It is found on ridges in the Darling Ranges and in the souther ...

'' Lindl. *'' Synaphea decumbens'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea diabolica'' R.Butcher *'' Synaphea divaricata'' (

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

Synaphea nexosa ''Synaphea nexosa'' is a shrub endemic to Western Australia. The densely tangled shrub typically grows to that blooms between October and November producing yellow flowers. It is found on winter wet flats in a small area in the South West regi ...

'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea obtusata'' (Meisn.) A.S.George *'' Synaphea odocoileops'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea oligantha'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea otiostigma'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea oulopha'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea pandurata'' R.Butcher *'' Synaphea panhesya'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea parviflora'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea petiolaris'' R.Br. - synaphea **''Synaphea petiolaris'' R.Br. subsp. ''petiolaris'' **''Synaphea petiolaris'' subsp. ''simplex'' A.S.George **''Synaphea petiolaris'' subsp. ''triloba'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea pinnata'' Lindl. - Helena synaphea *'' Synaphea platyphylla'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea polymorpha'' R.Br. - Albany synaphea *'' Synaphea polypodioides'' R.Butcher *'' Synaphea preissii'' Meisn. *'' Synaphea quartzitica'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea rangiferops'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea recurva'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea reticulata'' (

Sm. Sir James Edward Smith (2 December 1759 – 17 March 1828) was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society. Early life and education Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He started studying botan ...

) Druce *'' Synaphea sparsiflora'' A.S.George *''

Synaphea spinulosa ''Synaphea spinulosa'' is a species of small shrub in the flowering plant family Proteaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia. Together with ''Acacia truncata'', it was the first Australian endemism, endemic to be scientifically described and n ...

'' ( Burm.f.)

Merr. Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through ...

**''Synaphea spinulosa'' subsp. ''borealis'' A.S.George **''Synaphea spinulosa'' subsp. ''major'' A.S.George **''Synaphea spinulosa'' (Burm.f.) Merr. subsp. ''spinulosa'' *'' Synaphea stenoloba'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea tamminensis'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea trinacriformis'' R.Butcher *'' Synaphea tripartita'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea whicherensis'' A.S.George *'' Synaphea xela'' R.Butcher

Distribution

The genus is endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia, from near Kalbarri to about

Nuytsland Nature Reserve Nuytsland Nature Reserve is a protected area of Western Australia in the south-eastern part of the state, on the south coast. Geography Nominally located at , it has an area of , and takes in over of coastline from Cape Pasley to Red Rocks ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7662022 Proteaceae genera Eudicots of Western Australia Proteales of Australia Endemic flora of Western Australia