Synaphea cervifolia

Synaphea cervifolia
Conservation status
Priority Two — Poorly Known Taxa (DEC)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Proteales
Family:	Proteaceae
Genus:	Synaphea
Species:	S. cervifolia
Binomial name
Synaphea cervifolia A.S.George [1]

Synaphea cervifolia is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a shrub with widely spreading, bipinnatipartite leaves with sharply pointed lobes, and spikes of moderately crowded yellow flowers.

Descriptiion

Synaphea cervifolia is a shrub that typically grows to a height of up to 30 cm (12 in) with several branches covered with silky hairs, but become glabrous as they age. The leaves are flat, 40–80 mm (1.6–3.1 in) long and up to 100 mm (3.9 in) wide and bipinnatipartite meaning deeply lobed, the lobes themselves lobed and giving the impressions of a bipinnate leaf. The leaves are on a petiole 25–50 mm (0.98–1.97 in) long, with widely spreading lobes, the end-lobes linear, tapering, 1.5–2.5 mm (0.059–0.098 in) long, glabrous and prominently sharply pointed. The flowers are yellow and borne in moderately crowded spikes 25–75 mm (0.98–2.95 in) long on a peduncle 10–50 mm (0.39–1.97 in) long with bracts 2.0–2.5 mm (0.079–0.098 in) long and hairy. The perianth has a narrow opening, the upper tepal very convex, 5.0–5.2 mm (0.20–0.20 in) long and 1.5–1.8 mm (0.059–0.071 in) wide, the lower tepal 3.5–3.6 mm (0.14–0.14 in) long. The stigma is oblong to trapezium-shaped, and notched, the ovary covered with soft hairs. Flowering occurs from June to October. ^{[2] [3]}

Taxonomy

Synaphea cervifolia was first formally described in 1995 by Alex George in the Flora of Australia from specimens he collected south of Hyden in 1970. ^{[2] [4]} The specific epithet (cervifolia) means ' Cervus -leaved', alluding to the antler-like shape of the leaves. ^[5]

Distribution and habitat

This species of Synaphea grows in sandy clay and gravel in mallee kwongan and south of Hyden in the Mallee bioregion of south-western Western Australia. ^{[2] [3]}

Conservation status

Synaphea cervifolia is listed as "Priority Two" by the Government of Western Australia Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, ^[3] meaning that it is poorly known and from one or a few locations. ^[6]

References

1. "Synaphea cervifolia". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
2. George, Alex S. "Synaphea cervifolia". Flora of Australia. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water: Canberra. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
3. "Synaphea cervifolia". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
4. "Synaphea cervifolia". Australian Plant Name Index. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
5. George, Alex S.; Sharr, Francis A. (2023). Western Australian Plant Names and Their Meanings - A Glossary (fifth ed.). Kardinya: Four Gables Press. p. 163. ISBN   9780645629538.
6. "Conservation codes for Western Australian Flora and Fauna" (PDF). Government of Western Australia Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Retrieved 2 August 2025.