Synoum glandulosum

A common, evergreen, large shrub to small tree, growing to 8 metres tall by several metres wide.

It is found in the coastal regions of NSW, growing north of Bega, commonly along the coast, into Queensland (in disjunct populations) as far north as between Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation.

It is typically found in rainforest – including littoral, sub-tropical, tropical and warm temperate, as well as wet sclerophyll forests and moist forms of dry sclerophyll woodland. It can grow on a range of soils from sandy to enriched loams and shales.

Synoum has compound leaves, arranged alternately and with an odd number of leaflets on each leaf (paired leaflets and then 1 terminal leaflet – which is termed an imparipinnate leaf). In this species, the leaves are to 30 cm long by up to 20 cm wide; leaflets are to 10 cm long and to 3 cm wide, obovate to oblanceolate to broadly elliptic in shape; leaflets can number up to 11, with the terminal one usually largest; somewhat glossy, dark to mid-green in colour (juvenile leaves are usually lighter green); the leaves are generally hairless except for the prominently hairy domatia; very attractive and lush foliage generally.

Synoum has flowers with usually 4 but sometimes 5 petals with 8 stamens and 1 carpel. The flowers are small (dainty), to about 12 mm across, white, sometimes with pink tones, and produced in panicles to about 5 cm long, from the leaf axils.

The fruits are very conspicuous and showy, forming a brown to red-brown capsule with 3 distinct lobes, which are up to 20 mm in diameter and readily recognisable for this species. Inside the capsule are red paired-seeds.