AusTraits

Achyranthes aspera

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Family Amaranthaceae

Taxonomy: Achyranthes aspera L.

Synonyms: 12 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Achryanthes aspera D.G.Williams (orthographic variant)
  • Achyranthes argentea Lam. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes argentea var. ? villosior Hensl. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes aspera L. var. aspera (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Achyranthes aspera var. australis (R.Br.) Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes aspera var. canescens (R.Br.) Drake (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes aspera var. velutina (Hook. & Arn.) C.C.Towns. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes aspera var. villosior (Hensl.) D.M.Porter (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes australis R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes canescens R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes grandiflora Moq. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Achyranthes velutina Hook. & Arn. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, CoI, ChI, NT, Qld, CSI, NSW, LHI, NI

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (26), ANBG_2019 (5), Cooper_2013 (11), Crowley_2007 (2), Kew_2019_1 (14), Kew_2019_5 (1), Kew_2019_6 (22), Kooyman_2011 (12), Metcalfe_2009 (15), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2024 (7), NTH_2014 (3), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (15), Nano_2011 (2), Schmidt_1993 (1), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (31). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 79 traits from 213 records in 26 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 (4) [sources: Crowley_2007; Metcalfe_2009; Nano_2011; White_2020]
flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 2.67 mm (2-3.5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 1.5 mm (1-2.2 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): nut (1); utricle (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (3) [sources: Cooper_2013; Metcalfe_2009; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 9180 mm2 (9180-9180 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 73.88 mm (15-170 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 42.38 mm (7-90 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 1.1 cm (0.2-2 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_type (categorical): broadleaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (2); lanceolate (1); obovate (1); ovate (3); widely_elliptical (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1); cuneate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): unlobed (1) [sources: Kooyman_2011]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2014]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2); c4 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Munroe_2019; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (7); shrub (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011; Metcalfe_2009; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_form (categorical): phanerophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (1); perennial (4); short_lived_perennial (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2009; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4); woody (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (2); prostrate (1) [sources: NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; White_2020]
  • leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (1) [sources: Kooyman_2011]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; White_2020]
  • root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1); non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Schmidt_1993]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1); wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (1); zoochory (2) [sources: Kew_2019_5; Metcalfe_2009; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): invertebrates (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnyyynnnnnn (1); nnyyyyyynnnn (1); yyynnnnnnnny (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; NTH_2014; WAH_1998; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 2.37 mg (1-11.44 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Metcalfe_2009]
  • seed_length (numerical): 2.53 mm (1-4.93 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011]
  • seed_width (numerical): 1.64 mm (1-2.06 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011]
  • seed_shape (categorical): cylindrical (1); ellipsoid (1); polyhedral (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; ANBG_2019]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
eFLOWER_Dun_20222531L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
ABRS_20231826Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Kew_2019_6122Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
White_20202020M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_20091515E. Laliberte, J. A. Wells, F. DeClerck, D. J. Metcalfe, C. P. Catterall, C. Queiroz, I. Aubin, S. P. Bonser, Y. Ding, J. M. Fraterrigo, S. McNamara, J. W. Morgan, D. S. Merlos, P. A. Vesk, and M. M. Mayfield. “Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities”. Ecology Letters 13.1 (2010), pp. 76-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01403.x.
NTH_20231115D. 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/.
Kew_2019_1114Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kooyman_2011812R. Kooyman, M. Rossetto, W. Cornwell, and M. Westoby. “Phylogenetic tests of community assembly across regional to continental scales in tropical and subtropical rain forests”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20 (2011), pp. 707-716. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00641.x.
Cooper_2013911W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
NHNSW_202467N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on December, 2023.. 2024. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
ANBG_201955Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NTH_202244D. 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/.
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/.
ABRS_202233Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NTH_201433Northern Territory Herbarium. Flora of the Darwin Region Online. 2014. url: http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/plants-and-animals/herbarium/darwin_flora_online.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Nano_201122C. 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.
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.
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/.
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.
Schmidt_199311S. Schmidt. “Unpublished data: Compilation of mycorrhizal status data, University of Queensland”. 1993.
WAH_199811Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.