Baeckea frutescens

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Family Myrtaceae

Taxonomy: Baeckea frutescens L.

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Baeckea ericoides Schltdl. (taxonomic synonym)
Baeckea stenophylla F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): Qld, NSW

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, NSW Flora, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: Bean_1997 (11), Kew_2019_1 (2), McCarthy_2017 (10), NHNSW_2014_2 (3), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (20), NSWFRD_2014 (6), Schmidt_1997 (13), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 42 traits from 75 records in 11 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): resprouts (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Schmidt_1997]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_width (numerical): 1.75 mm (1.5-2 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 1.75 mm (1.5-2 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): capsule (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; Sjostrom_2006]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 34.04 mm2 (28.22-39.69 mm2) [sources: McCarthy_2017]
leaf_length (numerical): 7.75 mm (4-11.5 mm) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 0.55 mm (0.4-0.8 mm) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2023]
petiole_length (numerical): 0.1 cm (0.1-0.1 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 106.73 g/m2 (99.73-123.23 g/m2) [sources: McCarthy_2017]
leaf_shape (categorical): linear (2) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): concave (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_arrangement (categorical): clustered (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (5); tree (1) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; Schmidt_1997; Wenk_2022]
life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): prostrate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (1) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1); ectomycorrhizal (1) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (2); yynnnnnnnyyy (1) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
storage_organ (categorical): lignotuber (1) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 7.2 mg/g (7.2-7.2 mg/g) [sources: Schmidt_1997]
leaf_delta13C (numerical): -29.57 {delta}[ppth] (-29.83--29.21 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Schmidt_1997]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 4.1 mg (0.02-8.19 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1]
seed_length (numerical): 0.5 mm (0.5-0.5 mm) [sources: Bean_1997]
seed_shape (categorical): polyhedral (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 4.5 m (1-8 m) [sources: Bean_1997; NHNSW_2023]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
NHNSW_2023	17	20	N. 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/.
Schmidt_1997	11	13	S. Schmidt and G. Stewart. “Waterlogging and fire impacts on nitrogen availability and utilization in a subtropical wet heathland (wallum)”. Plant, Cell and Environment 20.10 (1997), pp. 1231-1241. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-3040.1997.d01-20.x.
Bean_1997	8	11	A. Bean. “A revision of Baeckea (Myrtaceae) in eastern Australia, Malesia and south-east Asia”. Telopea 7 (1997), pp. 245-268. doi: 10.1.1.520.6315.
McCarthy_2017	2	10	J. K. McCarthy, J. M. Dwyer, and K. Mokany. “A regional-scale assessment of using metabolic scaling theory to predict ecosystem properties”. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286.1915 (2019), p. 20192221. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2221.
NSWFRD_2014	6	6	B. 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.
Sjostrom_2006	4	4	A. 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.
NHNSW_2014_2	3	3	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2022	3	3	N. 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/.
Kew_2019_1	1	2	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.