Synaphea nexosa
Synaphea nexosa is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the far south-west of Western Australia. It is a densely tangled shrub with deeply divided leaves, the end lobes triangular, and spikes of yellow flowers, the spikes longer than the leaves.
Description
Synaphea nexosa is a densely tangled shrub that typically grows to a height of up to with more or less glabrous stems up to long. Its leaves are deeply divided, long and wide, on a petiole long, with three linear lobes wide. The flowers are borne in spikes long and longer than the leaves, on a peduncle up to long, the flowers widely spaced on the spikes. There are more or less glabrous bracts long at the base of the peduncle. The perianth is ascending with a wide opening, the upper tepal long and wide, the lower tepal long. The stigma is crescent moon-shaped with prominent horns, long, wide with an ovary covered with silky hairs in the lower half, glabrous above. Flowering occurs in October and November.
Taxonomy
Synaphea nexosa was first formally described in 1995 by Alex George in the Flora of Australia from specimens he collected near the Scott River in 1993. The specific epithet means 'much intertwined' or 'complicated', referring to the growth habit of this species.
Distribution and habitat
This species grows in winter-wet flats in mixed scrub and is only known from the Scott River plain, east of Augusta in the far south-west of Western Australia.
Conservation status
Synaphea nexosa is listed as "Priority One" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations that are potentially at risk.