Synaphea obtusata
Synaphea obtusata is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a low, rounded shrub with deeply divided leaves, the end lobes linear, and spikes of yellow flowers, the spikes usually longer than the leaves.
Description
Synaphea obtusata is a low, rounded shrub that typically grows to a height of up to and has several to many stems up to long and covered with soft hairs. Its leaves are deeply divided up to four times, long and wide, on a petiole long, the lobes linear, wide. The flowers are borne in spikes long and usually longer than the leaves, on a peduncle up to long, the flowers widely spaced on the spikes. There are broad bracts long at the base of the peduncle. The perianth is has a wide opening, the upper tepal long and wide, the lower tepal long. The stigma is egg-shaped to heart-shaped, long, wide with an ovary covered with soft hairs. Flowering from July to October and the fruit is long and beaked.
Taxonomy
This taxon was first described in 1856 by Carl Meissner who gave it the name Synaphea preissii var. obtusata from specimens collected in the Swan [River Colony] by James Drummond. In 1995, Alex [George (botanist)|Alex George] raised the variety to species status as S. obtusata in the Flora of Australia. The specific epithet means 'blunt possessing', referring to the leaf lobes.
Distribution and habitat
Synaphea obtusata grows in sand and gravelly soils in woodland and mallee kwongan in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Warren bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Synaphea obtusata is listed as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.