AusTraits

Acacia ligulata

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Fabaceae

Taxonomy: Acacia ligulata A.Cunn. ex Benth.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acacia ligulata A.Cunn. ex Benth. var. ligulata (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Acacia pallidiramosa Maiden & Blakely (taxonomic synonym)
  • Racosperma ligulatum (Benth.) Pedley (nomenclatural synonym)
Misapplied names: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acacia bivenosa subsp. wayi (Maiden) Pedley (pro parte misapplied)
  • Acacia salicina Lindl. (misapplied)
  • Acacia salicina Lindl. (pro parte misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld, NSW, Vic

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, NT eFlora, SA eFlora, Vic Flora, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (18), ANBG_2019 (9), Cheal_2017 (8), Chen_2017 (5), Clarke_2015 (3), Collette_2021 (1), Crowley_2007 (2), Dong_2017 (15), Draper_2023 (3), Jurado_1991 (5), Jurado_1992 (3), Kew_2019_1 (7), Kew_2019_4 (2), Kew_2019_5 (2), Leishman_1992 (7), Manea_2011 (1), Maslin_2012 (14), McGlone_2015 (6), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (13), NSWFRD_2014 (5), NTH_2022 (3), NTH_2023 (14), Nano_2011 (7), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (17), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (11), Shedley_2007 (12), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Staples_2019 (5), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 71 traits from 252 records in 39 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

fire response
  • resprouting_capacity (categorical): fire_killed (8); resprouts (4) [sources: Cheal_2017; Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Shedley_2007; White_2020]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (6) [sources: Cheal_2017; Clarke_2015; Nano_2011; Shedley_2007]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 78 mm (30-110 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 7.69 mm (4.5-11 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): legume (7) [sources: ABRS_2023; Chen_2017; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Chen_2017; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: Chen_2017; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 238 mm2 (238-238 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 58.57 mm (30-100 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 9.07 mm (3-14 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 378.98 g/m2 (373.75-384.21 g/m2) [sources: Dong_2017]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): linear (2); linear_elliptical (1); narrowly_elliptical (3); narrowly_oblong (1); oblanceolate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (1); simple (3) [sources: Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2) [sources: NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): glaucous (1); not_glaucous (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (1); phyllode (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Munroe_2019; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (16); tree (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992; Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Shedley_2007; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (10) [sources: ABRS_2022; Cheal_2017; Leishman_1992; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): bushy (1); compact (1); dense (3); erect (1); spreading (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (1) [sources: Maslin_2012]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Dong_2017; White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): ballistic (1); myrmecochory (1); zoochory (3) [sources: Draper_2023; Kew_2019_5; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); invertebrates (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyyyn (1); nnnnnnyyyynn (2) [sources: Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (4) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Shedley_2007]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1); persistent (3) [sources: Cheal_2017; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): physical_dormancy (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (3) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
nutrient and stable isotope
  • leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 19.95 mg/g (18.74-21.15 mg/g) [sources: Dong_2017]
  • leaf_delta13C (numerical): -27.4 {delta}[ppth] (-27.94--26.85 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Dong_2017]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 27.72 mg (9.35-61.64 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992]
  • seed_length (numerical): 5.79 mm (4-7.16 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; RBGV_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 4.03 mm (4.03-4.03 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ellipsoid (3); ovoid (2); ovoid_elongated (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; ANBG_2019; Maslin_2012; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
stem morphology
  • wood_density (numerical): 0.76 mg/mm3 (0.71-0.79 mg/mm3) [sources: Staples_2019]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 3 m (1-5 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; Leishman_1992; Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
  • plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20201919M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
ABRS_20231318Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_20231217VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Dong_2017815N. Dong, I. C. Prentice, B. J. Evans, S. Caddy-Retalic, A. J. Lowe, and I. J. Wright. “Leaf nitrogen from first principles: field evidence for adaptive variation with climate”. Biogeosciences 14.2 (2017), pp. 481-495. doi: 10.5194/bg-14-481-2017.
Maslin_20121114B. Maslin. WATTLE, Interactive Identification of Australian Acacia. Version 2. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2014.
NTH_20231014D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2023813N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Shedley_2007412E. F. Shedley. Fire and Biodiversity Guidelines for the Avon Basin: Consultant Report to the Avon Catchment Council and the Department of Environment and Conservation, August 2007. Tech. rep. Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia, 2007.
SAH_2023811S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
ANBG_201969Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
Cheal_201788D. Cheal. Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets. Fire and adaptive management, report no. 84. Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, 2010.
Kew_2019_117Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Leishman_199277M. R. Leishman and M. Westoby. “Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits-Evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands”. Journal of Ecology 80 (1992), pp. 417-424. doi: 10.2307/2260687.
Nano_201167C. E. M. Nano and P. J. Clarke. “How do drought and fire influence the patterns of resprouting in Australian deserts?”. Plant Ecology 212 (2011), pp. 2095-2110. doi: 10.1007/s11258-011-9988-x.
McGlone_201566M. S. McGlone, S. J. Richardson, G. J. Jordan, and G. L. Perry. “Is there a `suboptimal' woody species height? A response to Scheffer et al.”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 30.1 (2015), pp. 4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.007.
Chen_201755Chen, S.-C., Cornwell, W., Z. H.-X., Moles, and A. T. “Plants show more flesh in the tropics: Variation in fruit type along latitudinal and climatic gradients.”. Ecography 40 (2017), pp. 531-538. doi: abs/10.1111/ecog.02010.
Jurado_199155E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
NHNSW_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_201455B. Kenny, C. Orscheg, E. Tasker, M. A. Gill, and R. Bradstock. NSW Flora Fire Response Database, v2.1. database. NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, 2014.
Staples_201915T. Staples, J. M. Dwyer, J. R. England, and M. M. Mayfield. “Productivity does not correlate with species and functional diversity in Australian reforestation plantings across a wide climate gradient”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28.10 (2019), pp. 1417-1429. doi: 10.1111/geb.12962.
ABRS_202244Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_202244N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202244S. H. of South Australia. eFlora of SA, Electronic Flora of South Australia. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_200644A. Sjöström and C. L. Gross. “Life-history characters and phylogeny are correlated with extinction risk in the Australian angiosperms”. Journal of Biogeography 33.2 (2006), pp. 271-290. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01393.x.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Clarke_201533P. J. Clarke, M. J. Lawes, B. P. Murphy, J. Russell-Smith, C. E. Nano, R. Bradstock, N. J. Enright, J. B. Fontaine, C. R. Gosper, I. Radford, J. J. Midgley, and R. M. Gunton. “A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems”. Science of The Total Environment 534 (2015), pp. 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.002.
Draper_202333J. T. Draper, S. Delean, J. G. Conran, P. Weinstein, and B. S. Simpson. “Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia”. Australian Journal of Botany unknown.unknown (2023), p. unknown. doi: 10.1071/BT22110.
Jurado_199213E. Jurado and M. Westoby. “Germination biology of selected central Australian plants”. Austral Ecology 17.3 (1992), pp. 341-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1992.tb00816.x.
NTH_202233D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Kew_2019_412Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Oil content data from Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_512Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
WAH_2023_212Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Collette_202111J. C. Collette and M. K. J. Ooi. “Distribution of seed dormancy classes across a fire-prone continent: effects of rainfall seasonality and temperature”. Annals of Botany 127.5 (2021), pp. 613-620. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcaa203.
Manea_201111A. Manea. “Unpublished data: Dispersal appendage data for Acacia via Worldwide Wattle, Macquarie University”. 2011.
Munroe_201911S. E. M. Munroe, F. A. McInerney, J. Andrae, N. Welti, G. R. Guerin, E. Leitch, T. Hall, S. Szarvas, R. Atkins, S. Caddy-Retalic, and B. Sparrow. “The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in Australia's National Terrestrial Monitoring Network”. Scientific Data 8 (2021), p. 97. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00877-z.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.