AusTraits

Acacia mearnsii

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Fabaceae

Taxonomy: Acacia mearnsii De Wild.

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acacia mearnsi De Wild. (orthographic variant)
  • Racosperma mearnsii (De Wild.) Pedley (nomenclatural synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acacia decurrens var. mollis Lindl. (misapplied)
  • Acacia mollissima Willd. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (native and naturalised), NSW (native and naturalised), ACT, Vic, Tas

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (19), ANBG_2019 (5), Catford_2014 (7), Cheal_2017 (8), Chen_2017 (5), Clarke_2015 (3), Collette_2021 (1), Doherty_2021 (2), Draper_2023 (3), Gallagher_2011_1 (1), Jordan_2001 (6), Kew_2019_1 (6), Kew_2019_4 (1), Kew_2019_5 (1), Kew_2019_6 (1), Lawson_2015 (5), Manea_2011 (1), Maslin_2012 (11), McGlone_2015 (6), Mokany_2015 (2), Morgan_2011_1 (5), Morgan_2011_2 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (17), NSWFRD_2014 (12), Pickup_2021 (20), Purdie_1976 (2), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (15), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (19), Sjostrom_2006 (4), SmithMartin_2020 (16), Togashi_2015 (12), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19), Williams_2005 (5), Williams_2011 (9), Wright_2000 (3), Zanne_2009 (2). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 77 traits from 285 records in 45 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 (6); partial_resprouting (1); resprouts (3) [sources: Cheal_2017; Clarke_2015; Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; Purdie_1976; White_2020]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (7) [sources: Cheal_2017; Clarke_2015; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): white_cream (1); yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1); hermaphrodite (1); monoecious (1) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 78.75 mm (30-150 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 6.38 mm (4.5-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): legume (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; Chen_2017; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (3) [sources: Chen_2017; Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: Chen_2017; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): black (3); brown (3); grey (1); red (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 3.14 mm2 (3.14-3.14 mm2) [sources: Mokany_2015]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 8.81 mm (1-60 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 0.68 mm (0.5-0.8 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 2 cm (0.5-5 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 141.39 g/m2 (141.39-141.39 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_oblong (4); oblanceolate (1); oblong (1); spathulate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): auriculate (1); rounded (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_arrangement (categorical): crowded (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (8); tree (14) [sources: ABRS_2022; Catford_2014; Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; Purdie_1976; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; SmithMartin_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • life_form (categorical): phanerophyte (3) [sources: Morgan_2011_1; Williams_2005; Williams_2011]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (11); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Catford_2014; Cheal_2017; Jordan_2001; Maslin_2012; Morgan_2011_1; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023; Williams_2005]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (2); spreading (4) [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: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • pollination_system (categorical): biotic_unspecialised (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): ballistic (1); myrmecochory (4); zoochory (3) [sources: Catford_2014; Draper_2023; Kew_2019_5; Morgan_2011_1; White_2020; Williams_2005; Williams_2011]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); invertebrates (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnyyy (4); nnnnnnnnyyyn (1) [sources: Chen_2017; Maslin_2012; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (5); soil_seedbank_absent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; Williams_2005]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1); persistent (6) [sources: Cheal_2017; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): physical_dormancy (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (3) [sources: Morgan_2011_1; White_2020; Williams_2005]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (1); bud-bearing_root (2) [sources: Clarke_2015; Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 13.27 mg (10.39-16.5 mg) [sources: Catford_2014; Kew_2019_1; Morgan_2011_2]
  • seed_length (numerical): 5.45 mm (3.9-7 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; Jordan_2001]
  • seed_width (numerical): 2.66 mm (2.5-2.81 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; Jordan_2001]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ellipsoid (1); ovoid (1) [sources: ANBG_2019; SAH_2023]
stem morphology
  • wood_density (numerical): 0.65 mg/mm3 (0.57-0.71 mg/mm3) [sources: Lawson_2015; Zanne_2009]
  • huber_value (numerical): 0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf} (0-0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf}) [sources: Togashi_2015]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 11.19 m (3-16 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; Maslin_2012; McGlone_2015; Mokany_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
  • plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Pickup_2021520M. Pickup and T. McDonald. Bushfire impacts — A national model for assessing local landscape restoration priorities. Project Phoenix Report. Greening Australia, 2021. url: https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1.02R2.pdf.
ABRS_20231219Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
SAH_20231319S. 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/.
White_20201919M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NHNSW_2023917N. 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/.
SmithMartin_2020616C. M. Smith-Martin, R. P. Skelton, K. M. Johnson, C. Lucani, and T. J. Brodribb. “Lack of vulnerability segmentation among woody species in a diverse dry sclerophyll woodland community”. Functional Ecology 34 (2020), pp. 777-787. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13519.
RBGV_20231115VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_20141012B. 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.
Togashi_2015112H. F. Togashi, I. C. Prentice, B. J. Evans, D. I. Forrester, P. Drake, P. Feikema, K. Brooksbank, D. Eamus, and D. Taylor. “Morphological and moisture availability controls of the leaf area-to-sapwood area ratio: analysis of measurements on Australian trees”. Ecology and Evolution 5.6 (2015), pp. 1263-1270. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1344.
Maslin_2012911B. Maslin. WATTLE, Interactive Identification of Australian Acacia. Version 2. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2014.
Williams_201199R. P. Duncan, S. E. Clemants, R. T. Corlett, A. K. Hahs, M. A. McCarthy, M. J. McDonnell, M. W. Schwartz, K. Thompson, P. A. Vesk, and N. S. G. Williams. “Plant traits and extinction in urban areas: a meta-analysis of 11 cities”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20.4 (2011), pp. 509-519. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00633.x.
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.
Catford_201477J. A. Catford, W. K. Morris, P. A. Vesk, C. J. Gippel, and B. J. Downes. “Species and environmental characteristics point to flow regulation and drought as drivers of riparian plant invasion”. Diversity and Distributions 20 (2014), pp. 1084-1096. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12225.
Jordan_200166G. J. Jordan. “An investigation of long-distance dispersal based on species native to both Tasmania and New Zealand”. Australian Journal of Botany 49.3 (2001), pp. 333-340. doi: 10.1071/bt00024.
Kew_2019_116Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.
ANBG_201955Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
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.
Lawson_201515J. R. Lawson, K. A. Fryirs, and M. R. Leishman. “Data from: Hydrological conditions explain wood density in riparian plants of south-eastern Australia”. Dryad Digital Repository (2015). doi: 10.5061/dryad.72h45.
Morgan_2011_155J. Morgan. “Unpublished data: Grassy woodland traits, La Trobe University”. 2011.
NHNSW_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Williams_200555N. S. G. Williams, J. W. Morgan, M. J. McDonnell, and M. A. McCarthy. “Plant traits and local extinctions in natural grasslands along an urban-rural gradient”. Journal of Ecology 93.6 (2005), pp. 1203-1213. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01039.x.
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.
Wright_200033I. J. Wright, H. T. Clifford, R. Kidson, M. L. Reed, B. L. Rice, and M. Westoby. “A survey of seed and seedling characters in 1744 Australian dicotyledon species: Cross-species trait correlations and correlated trait-shifts within evolutionary lineages”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69 (2000), pp. 521-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01222.x.
Doherty_202122M. Doherty. “Fire Severity and Plant Community Dynamics in the Australian Alps, Southeastern New South Wales”. PhD. Australian National University, 2021. url: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/224564.
Mokany_201522K. Mokany, J. J. Thomson, A. J. J. Lynch, G. J. Jordan, and S. Ferrier. “Linking changes in community composition and function under climate change”. Ecological Applications 25.8 (2015), pp. 2132-2141. doi: 10.1890/14-2384.1.
Purdie_197622R. W. Purdie and R. O. Slatyer. “Vegetation succession after fire in sclerophyll woodland communities in south-eastern Australia”. Australian Journal of Ecology 1 (1976), pp. 223-236.
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.
Zanne_200912A. E. Zanne, G. Lopez-Gonzalez, D. A. Coomes, J. Ilic, S. Jansen, S. L. Lewis, R. B. Miller, N. G. Swenson, M. C. Wiemann, and J. Chave. “Data from: Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum”. Dryad Digital Repository (2009). doi: 10.5061/dryad.234.
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.
Gallagher_2011_111R. V. Gallagher, M. R. Leishman, J. T. Miller, C. Hui, D. M. Richardson, J. Suda, and P. Travnicek. “Invasiveness in introduced Australian acacias: The role of species traits and genome size”. Diversity and Distributions 17 (2011), pp. 884-897. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2011.00805.x.
Kew_2019_411Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Oil content data from Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_511Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_611Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Manea_201111A. Manea. “Unpublished data: Dispersal appendage data for Acacia via Worldwide Wattle, Macquarie University”. 2011.
Morgan_2011_211J. Morgan. “Unpublished data: Trait database, La Trobe University”. 2011.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.