Synaphea constricta
Synaphea constricta is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a compact, tufted shrub with widely spreading, more or less flat, pinnatipartite leaves with sharply pointed lobes, and spikes of moderately crowded yellow flowers.
Description
Synaphea constricta is a compact, tufted shrub that typically grows to a height of with few branches covered with soft hairs at first, but soon glabrous. The leaves are flat, long and up to wide on a petiole long. The end lobes are almost flat, triangular, and sharply pointed. The flowers are yellow and borne in moderately crowded spikes long on a peduncle long with spreading bracts long and more or less glabrous. The perianth has a narrow opening, the upper tepal long and wide and gently curved, the lower tepal long with a prominently curved tip. The stigma is oblong but narrowed in the middle, notched or with two lobes, the ovary covered with soft hairs. Flowering occurs from June to September.
Taxonomy
Synaphea constricta was first formally described in 1995 by Alex [George (botanist)|Alex George] in the Flora of [Australia (series)|Flora of Australia] from specimens he collected north of Wongan Hills on the road to Ballidu in 1988. The specific epithet means 'constricted', referring to the stigma.
Distribution and habitat
This species of Synaphea grows in sand, sandy clay-loam over laterite in kwongan and mallee-kwongan near Wongan Hills, Manmanning, Minnivale east of Dowerin, Kellerberrin and Bendering in the Avon Wheatbelt and Mallee bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Synaphea constricta is listed as "Priority Three" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is poorly known and known from only a few locations but is not under imminent threat.