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Synaphea

Genus of small shrubs in the family Proteaceae From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Synaphea
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Synaphea is a genus of flowering plants in the macadamia family Proteaceae, endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. It contains 56 species as of April 2025, 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 in 1810.

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Description

Plants in the genus Synaphea are small shrubs, usually with deeply lobed (pinnatipartite) leaves, although some have simple leaves, others pinnate 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 is tube-shaped and zygomorphic, the tube opening in the upper third to half. As in many other members of the Proteaceae, the male anthers and female style are initially in contact and the end of the style is a pollen presenter. 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.[4][5]

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Taxonomy

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The genus Synaphea was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown in Transactions of the Linnean Society of London.[3][6] The name Synaphea is from the ancient Greek word synaphe meaning "a connection" or "a union", referring to a connection between a sterile anther and the stigma.[7][5]

Species

The following is a list of formally named Synaphea species and subspecies accepted by the Australian Plant Census as at April 2020:[1]

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Distribution

The genus is endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia, from near Kalbarri to about Nuytsland Nature Reserve.[5][8]

References

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