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 endemic to be scientifically described and named, and the specimen upon which that description is based is the oldest extant specimen of an Australian plant, and very likely among the first Australian plant specimens ever collected.

Description

''Synaphea spinulosa'' grows as a small shrub with multiple steps up to in height. The leaves are deeply divided into three lobes, and each lobe is usually also divided into three. The ultimate lobes are usually triangular, and even these usually end in up to three sharp points. The leaf lamina does not lie flat but is concave. Overall the leaves are from long, and wide, on a petiole long. Flowers are bright yellow, and occur crowded together in spikes from long, on a branched peduncle arising from the upper axils of branches.

Taxonomy

Taxonomic history

''Synaphea spinulosa'' bears the distinction of holding several 'firsts' in Australia botanical history. Together with ''Acacia truncata'' it was the first Australian endemic to be scientifically described and named, and the specimen upon which that description is based is the oldest extant specimen of an Australian plant, and very likely among the first Australian plant specimens ever collected.

Nothing is known of the original collection of the specimen, except that it was necessarily collected before publication of the species description in 1768. Prior to this, the only known visit by Europeans to an area where ''S. spinulosa'' occurs was the voyage of Dutch mariner Willem de Vlamingh, who explored Rottnest Island and the Swan River in December 1696 and January 1697 respectively. It is therefore very likely, but not proven, that the specimen was collected during that voyage, and thus predates by nearly three years the oldest ''authenticated'' collection of Australian plants, that made by William Dampier in 1699. It is known that Dutch botanist Nicolaas Witsen asked Vlamingh to collect plants for him during the voyage, and it is recorded that Vlamingh returned to Holland with plants, fruits, and wood samples. However, according to Mabberley, at least one of the two specimens came from Christiaan Kleijnhoff who had established a botanic garden in Java (which is where Burman describes ''S. spinulosa'' as coming from - "ex Java"). Burman, N.L. (1768
Flora Indica: cui accedit series zoophytorum indicorum, nec non Prodromus Florae Capensis: 233t. 67, fig. 1
/ref>

In 1768, Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman acquired the two specimens and published names, descriptions and illustrations of them in his '' Flora Indica''. ''S. spinulosa'' was wrongly identified as a Javanese fern, and named ''Polypodium spinulosum''; ''A. truncata'' was similarly misidentified and misnamed. The specimen of ''A. truncata'' is now lost, but the specimen of ''S. spinulosa'' is extant, and currently lodged in the Herbarium of the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève (CJB) in Geneva, Switzerland; it is among the oldest extant botanical specimens of an Australian endemic. (Some older specimens collected by William Dampier, e.g. ''Swainsona formosa'', still exist at the Druce Herbarium in Oxford, but were not described.)

The next known collection of ''S. spinulosa'' was made in December 1801, when King George Sound was visited by HMS ''Investigator'' under the command of Matthew Flinders. On board were botanist Robert Brown, botanical artist Ferdinand Bauer, and gardener Peter Good. All three men gathered material for Brown's specimen collection, including specimens of ''S. spinulosa''. Neither Brown's nor Good's diary can be used to assign a precise location or date for the first collection of this species, but one of Brown's specimen slips is dated "Decr 19 1801".

Brown, however, did not recognise the species as distinct; in his specimen collection, specimens of ''S. spinulosa'' are attributed to '' S. polymorpha'', and when he eventually published the genus in his 1810 monograph ''On the Proteaceae of Jussieu'', he assigned Burman's ''Polypodium spinulosum'' to '' S. petiolaris''.

In 1919, American botanist Elmer Drew Merrill identified Burman's ''Polypodium spinulosum'' with ''S. polymorpha''. Claiming priority for Burman's name, he transferred ''P. spinulosum'' into ''Synaphea'' as ''S. spinulosa'', relegating ''S. polymorpha'' to synonymy. This synonymy was accepted for many years, though the more established name ''S. polymorpha'' was preferred. The species was finally recognised as distinct in 1995 when Alex George divided ''S. polymorpha'' into several species in his treatment of the genus for the ''Flora of Australia'' series of monographs.

Relationships within ''Synaphea''

The only published infrageneric arrangement of ''Synaphea'' is that provided by Alex George for the ''Flora of Australia'' series. In George's arrangement, ''Synaphea'' is divided into four sections. ''S. spinulosa'' is placed at the front of ''S.'' sect. ''Synaphea'', by far the largest section with 44 members, because of its "entire to emarginate or shortly horned stigma":
:''Synaphea''
:: ''S.'' sect. ''Synaphea''
:::''S. spinulosa'' — '' S. endothrix'' — '' S. media'' — '' S. sparsiflora'' — '' S. canaliculata'' — '' S. cervifolia'' — '' S. quartzitica'' — '' S. incurva'' — '' S. polymorpha'' — '' S. intricata'' — '' S. parviflora'' — '' S. tripartita'' — '' S. constricta'' — '' S. bifurcata'' — '' S. oligantha'' — '' S. flexuosa'' — '' S. divaricata'' — '' S. interioris'' — '' S. tamminensis'' — '' S. rangiferops'' — '' S. lesuerensis'' — '' S. aephynsa'' — '' S. gracillima'' — '' S. drummondii'' — '' S. acutiloba'' — '' S. stenoloba'' — '' S. odocoileops'' — '' S. recurva'' — '' S. grandis'' — '' S. decorticans'' — '' S. panhesya'' — '' S. boyaginensis'' — '' S. whicherensis'' — '' S. preissii'' — '' S. obtusata'' — '' S. platyphylla'' — '' S. nexosa'' — '' S. petiolaris'' — '' S. otiostigma'' — '' S. flabelliformis'' — '' S. damopsis'' — '' S. cuneata'' — '' S. macrophylla'' — '' S. decumbens'' — '' S. xela''
:: ''S.'' sect. ''Bicornis'' (4 species)
:: ''S.'' sect. ''Oulopha'' (1 species)
:: ''S.'' sect. ''Pinnata'' (1 species)
:::(1 species unassigned)

Subspecies

Three subspecies are currently recognised:
* ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''major'' has longer flowers than the other species.
* ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''borealis'' has a shorter flower than ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''major'', and a smaller fruit and is less hairy than ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''spinulosa''.
* ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''spinulosa'' has a shorter flower than ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''major'', and larger fruit and more hair than ''S. spinulosa'' subsp. ''major''.
George notes that the species is highly variable, and there are several unstudied collections exhibiting interesting variability.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic to Western Australia, it is widespread in the Southwest Botanic Province, and almost never found outside it.

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q7662019

spinulosa
Proteales of Australia
Eudicots of Western Australia
Taxa named by Nicolaas Laurens Burman
Plants described in 1768