AusTraits

Alternanthera pungens

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Amaranthaceae

Taxonomy: Alternanthera pungens Kunth

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Achyranthes repens L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Alternanthera achyrantha var. echinata (Sm.) Maiden (taxonomic synonym)
  • Alternanthera achyrantha var. leiantha Seub. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Alternanthera echinata Sm. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Illecebrum achyrantha L. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Alternanthera achyrantha R.Br. ex Sweet (misapplied)
  • Alternanthera repens (L.) Link (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Mesaglio_2022 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (8), NHNSW_2024 (6), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (12), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (10), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (6), Sjostrom_2006 (1), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_1 (2), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 20 traits from 69 records in 16 datasets.

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

flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.4 mm (1.3-1.5 mm) [sources: NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): utricle (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (4) [sources: NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_1]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 26 mm (5-50 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 10.79 mm (3.3-25 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_type (categorical): broadleaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (1); obovate (3); orbicular (2); spathulate (1); widely_obovate (1); widely_ovate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: NHNSW_2024; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (6) [sources: NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (4); perennial (6) [sources: NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6); woody_root (1) [sources: NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): prostrate (4); spreading (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnyynnnnnnn (1) [sources: Mesaglio_2022]
seed morphology
  • seed_shape (categorical): lenticular (2) [sources: NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.26 m (0.01-0.5 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NTH_20231012D. 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/.
RBGV_2023810VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2014_268Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202456N. 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/.
SAH_202356S. 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/.
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/.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
SAH_202233S. 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/.
WAH_2022_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_122Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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.
Mesaglio_202211T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
Sjostrom_200611A. 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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.