# Flora Australiensis/Volume 5/Proteaceae/Synaphea

5. SYNAPHEA, R. Br.
Flowers hermaphrodite. Perianth oblique or incurved, the tube short, the segments separating, the upper one with an erect ovate or oblong lamina, the three others usually shorter and more spreading. Stamens inserted at the base of the laminæ, the filaments short and thick. Anthers of the lowest stamen with two distinct cells, of the lateral stamens with one cell each, the cells concave, each one of the lateral anthers when in bud facing the adjoining one of the lower anthers and forming but one cell with it, but separating as the flower opens; the upper anther abortive and replaced by a small membrane connecting the filament with the posterior margin of the stigma. Ovary 1-celled, crowned by a tuft of gland-like hairs, with one laterally attached ovule. Style filiform, dilated at the end into an oblique disk, stigmatic on its upper surface which is turned towards the upper perianth-lobe and retained in that position by the membrane connecting it with the filament, the anterior margin of the disk often lobed or 2-horned. Fruit a small indehiscent nut.—Shrubs or undershrubs. Leaves all, or in one species only the lower ones, on long petioles with a sheathing scale-like dilatation at the base, the lamina entire or divided, with few primary veins, pitted all over by minute reticulations. Flowers small, yellow, in spikes often at first dense at length elongated, each one sessile within a small concave bract, the common peduncle simple or branched, often very long, inserted in the axil of a rather large sheathing scale, being the base of an abortive leaf.
The genus is limited to extratropical West Australia, very distinct as a whole from all others, but difficult as to the discrimination of species. With the exception of S. polymorpha and S. pinnata, the foliage is almost as variable in a single individual as in the whole group of species, and the habit, inflorescence, perianths, and stamens are nearly uniform; their remains therefore, besides minor differences in indumentum and the size of the flowers, very little of specific distinction except the modifications of the stigma or stigmatic end of the style, and even these are sometimes not very well defined.
| Spikes simple, not exceeding the shortly petiolate floral leaves | 1. S. polymorpha. |
| Leaves all on long petioles. Flowering branches long, leafless, and usually branched. |
| Stigma 2-horned. |
| Base of the petioles hirsute. Spike pubescent. Leaves mostly entire or shortly lobed | 2. S. dilatata. |
| Whole plant glabrous or the base of the petioles slightly silky. Leaves except the lowest deeply lobed or divided | 3. S. favosa. |
| Stigma produced into a single oblong incurved entire or 2-lobed appendage. Leaves with long diverging lobes | 4. S. Preissii. ​ |
| Stigma produced into a short broad notched or 2-lobed appendage. Leaf-lobes short, divaricate, pungent-pointed. Flowers small. | 5. S. acutiloba. |
| Stigma with 2 broad lateral lobes, sometimes shortly confluent. Flowers small. Leaf-lobes long. |
| Glabrous or nearly so. | 6. S. petiolaris. |
| Base of the petiole hirsute and spike pubescent as in S. dilatata. | 7. S. decorticans. |
| Stigma broad without lobes or appendages. Leaf-segments long, distinct, almost petiolulate | 8. S. pinnata. |
1. S. polymorpha, R. Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc. x. 156, Prod. 370. Stems leafy, 1 to 2 ft. high, rigid, usually more or less silky especially about the base of the petioles, the adult foliage glabrous. Lower leaves on long petioles, entire or cuneately 3-lobed as in several of the following species, but the upper ones numerous, shortly petiolate, once or twice deeply divided into 2- or 3-lobed or toothed segments, the whole leaf spreading to 2 or 3 in. diameter, the lobes mostly pungent-pointed, broad or narrow, the small reticulations less prominent than in most species. Spikes simple, pubescent, rarely exceeding the leaves. Perianth 2+$^1$⁄$_2$ to 3 lines long. Stigma produced into an oblong or linear entire or emarginate incurved appendage as in S. Preissii. Nut obovoid-oblong, shortly stipitate.—Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 529, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 315; S. brachystachya, Lindl. Swan Riv. App. 32; Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 530, and in DC. l.c. 316.
W. Australia. King George's Sound and adjoining districts, R. Brown and many others, and from thence to Swan river, Drummond, 1st coll. n. 590, Preiss, n. 774, 775, and others, and to Murchison river, Oldfield; eastward to Cape Arid, Maxwell.
2. S. dilatata, R. Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc. x. 156, Prod. 370, and App. Flind. Voy. ii. 606, t. 7. Stems very short or decumbent and lengthening out to 1 or even 1+$^1$⁄$_2$ ft., more or less clothed as well as the petioles, at least when young, with long spreading hairs. Leaves all on long petioles, from cuneate-oblong and entire to broadly cuneate and once or twice 3-lobed or rarely irregularly pinnatifid, the lamina 2 to 4 in. long, usually 1- or 3-nerved when entire, the small reticulations conspicuous. Spikes simple or branched, sometimes only 2 or 3 in., sometimes above 1 ft. long including the peduncle, always more or less silky-villous. Flowers at first dense, but remote when the rhachis elongates. Bracts broad, 1 to 1+$^1$⁄$_2$ lines long. Perianth pubescent, 3 to 4 lines long. Ovary crowned by a tuft of thick transparent hairs. Stigma anteriorly produced into 2 rather long erect horn-like appendages. Nut small, oblong.–Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 527, ii. 251, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 314; Endl. Iconogr. t. 32; Conospermum reticulatum. Sm. in Rees' Cycl. ix.; Synaphca Drummondii, Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 315.
W. Australia. King George's Sound and adjoining districts, Menzies, Baxter, Fraser, Oldfield, Drummond, n. 21, 2nd coll. n. 303, 3rd coll. n. 259, Preiss, n. 773, 776.
3. S. favosa, R. Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc. x. 156, Prod. 369. Stems short or decumbent, the whole plant glabrous or with a short silky ​pubescence at the base of the petioles and rarely a few short hairs on the spike. Leaves on long petioles, a few of the outer ones entire but mostly divided nearly to the base into 3 entire or 2- or 3-lobed segments, the whole leaf 3 to 10 in. long, including the petiole. Flowering stems leafless, slightly branched, longer than the leaves, the flowers rather numerous, and at length distant. Bracts small. Perianth 2 to 2+$^1$⁄$_2$ lines long. Stigma 2-horned but the horns not so long as in S. dilatata. Nut ovoid, contracted into a stipes nearly as long as itself.—Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. ii. 251, and in DC. Prod. xiv, 314.
W. Australia. King George's Sonnd, R. Brown, Baxter, Drummond, 3rd coll. n. 258; heaths north of Albany, F. Mueller. Drummond's 2nd coll. n. 302, referred by Meissner to S. petiolaris, and Preiss, n. 780, referred to S. decorticans, have certainly, in the specimens examined, the 2-horned stigma of S. favosa.
Var. divaricata. Leaves shorter, twice or even three times divided into divaricate lobes. Flowering stems shorter and the flowers rather smaller than in the type, but in the specimens the inflorescence is not yet fully developed. The stigma is 2-horned as in the type.—Eyre's Relief, Maxwell, and specimens from King George's Sound, Fraser, are apparently the same, but not in flower.
4. S. Preissii, Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 529, ii. 251, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 315. Stems short or decumbent, quite glabrous or the dilated base of the petioles very shortly silky-pubescent. Leaves all on long petioles, the lower ones sometimes entire but mostly with long divaricate lobes, the whole leaf sometimes 1 ft. long and the lobes 2 or 3 in., obtuse or acute. Flowering stems long and lealless, slightly branched, glabrous. Perianths usually about 2+$^1$⁄$_2$ lines long, the segments rather narrow. Stigma produced anteriorly into an oblong truncate or emarginate appendage, at least as long as broad and incurved. Nut ovoid, about 2 lines long.
W. Australia. King George's Sound, Preiss, n. 779, Drummond, 3rd coll. n. 257, Harvey, Oldfield, Maxwell; Blackwood and Gordon rivers, Oldfield.
5. S. acutiloba, Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 528, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 315. Stems short or decumbent, quite glabrous. Leaves all on long petioles, mostly once twice or thrice ternately divided into short divaricate undulating mostly pungent-pointed lobes, the whole lamina 2 to 3 in. long and broad or sometimes broader than long. Flowers small as in S. petiolaris, but not so much incurved. Stigma produced anteriorly into a short broad shortly 2-lobed appendage.
W. Australia. Swan river, Drummond, 1st coll. n. 589, Preiss, n. 777, 782. Perhaps a variety of S. petiolaris.
6. S. petiolaris, R. Br. in Trans. Linn. Soc. x. 156, Prod. 370. Stems short or decumbent, glabrous or slightly silky about the petioles and sometimes a few short hairs on the spikes. Leaves all on long petioles, mostly once or twice or even three times divided into spreading lobes, long and narrow when few, shorter when more divided, obtuse or with short points, the whole leaf including the petiole from a few in. to above 1 ft. long, the lowest leaves as in the allied species usually entire. Flowering stems long and leafless, usually branched, the flowers ​small and distant. Perianth more incurved than in other species, not exceeding 2 lines, Stigma anteriorly produced on each side into a broad semicircular auricle or short broad lobe. Nut ovoid, about 2 lines long.—Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 528, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 315.
W. Australia. King George's Sound and adjoining districts, R. Brown, Baxter, A. Cunningham, Preiss, n. 781, Drummond, Oldfield, F. Mueller.
Var. gracillima. Leaf segments long and narrow. Flowers very small and more curved in slender spikes—S. gracillima, Lindl. Swan Riv. App. 32; Meissn. in DC. Prod. xiv. 315.—Swan river, Drummond, 1st coll. n. 588, and a still more slender elongated form, Murchison river, Oldfield.
7. S. decorticans, Lindl. Swan Riv. App. 32. Stems short or decumbent, hirsute as well as the petioles with spreading hairs as in S. dilatata, or rarely nearly glabrous. Leaves also as in that species cuneate, undulate, once or twice 3-lobed at the end, 3 to 4 in. long including the petioles. Flowering branches long and slender, perianths scarcely 2 lines long and stigma with short lateral rounded lobes as in S. petiolaris, without the horns of S. dilatata.—Meissn. in DC. Prod, xiv. 314, partly.
W. Australia. Swan river, Drummond, 1st coll.
8. S. pinnata, Lindl. Swan Riv. App. 32. Leafy stems in our specimens exceedingly short or scarcely any, the whole plant quite glabrous and somewhat glaucous or the spike slightly pubescent. Leaves radical, on long petioles, divided at the end into 3 digitate segments, or rarefy pinnate with 5 segments, the lowest pair distant, the segments all contracted at the base, quite distinct, lanceolate, acute, 1+$^1$⁄$_2$ to 3 in, long, entire or divided into 3 more or less decurrent or confluent segments, the first leaves sometimes undivided. Flowering stems leafless, slender, often above 1 ft. long, with a few long branches. Flowers not numerous, towards the end of the branches, a few of the lower ones distant. Bracts 1 to 2 lines long, broad, acute. Perianth nearly 3 lines long, the claws very oblique and at least as long as the laminæ, and the upper lamina not so broad as in the other species. Stigma broad, concave, without lobes or appendages.—Meissn. in Pl. Preiss. i. 530, and in DC. Prod. xiv. 316.
W. Australia. Swan river, Drummond, 1st coll., Preiss, n. 783 (Meissner). I have only seen Drummond's specimens.