''Synaphea'' is a genus of small shrubs and is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to Western Australia. Synapheas have variably shaped leaves but consistently yellow flowers with an unusual pollination mechanism.
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 in ...
leaves, and have a
petiole with a sheathing base. The flowers are relatively small, bright yellow, usually unscented, and arranged in a spike in leaf
axils or on the ends of branchlets. The
perianth
The perianth (perigonium, perigon or perigone in monocots) is the non-reproductive part of the flower, and structure that forms an envelope surrounding the sexual organs, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and the corolla ( petals) or tepals when ...
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 spirall ...
, the tube opening in the upper third to half. As in many other members of the Proteaceae, the male
anthers and female
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
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 style in flowers of plants of the family Proteaceae on which the anthers release their pollen prior to anthesis. To ensure pollination, the style grows during anthesis, sticking out the pollen-present ...
. In synapheas (and in ''
Conospermum''), the anthers and stigma are held together under tension and only separate when touched by a pollinator, ejecting the
pollen. 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
Robert Brown 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 col ...
''.
The first species Brown described was ''
Synaphea favosa'' and it is therefore the
type species. The name ''Synaphea'' is from the
ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
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 Syst ...
as at April 2020:
*''
Synaphea acutiloba''
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''
A.S.George
Alexander Segger George (born 4 April 1939) is a Western Australian botanist. He is the authority on the plant genera ''Banksia'' and ''Dryandra''. The "bizarre" Restionaceae genus '' Alexgeorgea'' was named in his honour in 1976.
Early life
A ...
*''
Synaphea bifurcata''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea boyaginensis''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea brachyceras''
R.Butcher
*''
Synaphea canaliculata''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea cervifolia''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea constricta''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea cuneata''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea damopsis''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea decorticans''
Lindl.
John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley ...
*''
Synaphea decumbens''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea diabolica''
R.Butcher
*''
Synaphea divaricata''
( Benth.) A.S.George
*''
Synaphea drummondii''
Meisn.
*''
Synaphea endothrix''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea favosa''
R.Br.
*''
Synaphea flabelliformis''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea flexuosa''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea floribunda''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea gracillima''
Lindl.
*''
Synaphea grandis''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea hians''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea incurva''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea interioris''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea intricata''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea lesueurensis''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea macrophylla''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea media''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea nexosa''
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.
__NOTOC__
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 displayed a ...
) Druce
*''
Synaphea sparsiflora''
A.S.George
*''
Synaphea spinulosa''
( Burm.f.) Merr.
**''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 Western Australia.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7662022
Proteaceae genera
Eudicots of Western Australia
Proteales of Australia
Endemic flora of Western Australia