Blechnum cartilagineum

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Family Blechnaceae

Taxonomy: Blechnum cartilagineum Sw.

Synonyms: 10 (APC 2026-07-30)

Blechnopsis cartilaginea (Sw.) C.Presl (nomenclatural synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum Sw. var. cartilagineum (nomenclatural synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum var. appendiculatum Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum var. normale Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum var. tropica F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum var. tropicum F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
Blechnum cartilagineum var. woodwardioides Luerss. (taxonomic synonym)
Oceaniopteris cartiliginea (Sw.) Gasper & Salino (nomenclatural synonym)
Salpichlaena cartilaginea (Sw.) Trevis. (nomenclatural synonym)
Spicanta cartilaginea (Sw.) Kuntze (nomenclatural synonym)

Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Blechnum nitidum C.Presl (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic, Tas

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (2), ABRS_2023 (13), Cheal_2017 (6), Fonseca_2000 (9), Kubiak_2009 (4), Laxton_2005 (11), NHNSW_2022 (2), NHNSW_2023 (7), NSWFRD_2014 (11), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (7), Wells_2012 (5), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (18), Williams_2011 (11). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 57 traits from 112 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.

fire response

resprouting_capacity (categorical): resprouts (5) [sources: Cheal_2017; Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 24288 mm2 (24288-24288 mm2) [sources: Laxton_2005]
leaflet_area (numerical): 461.9 mm2 (132.1-791.7 mm2) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
leaf_length (numerical): 488.75 mm (20-1000 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 27.52 mm (5.6-200 mm) [sources: Fonseca_2000; ABRS_2023]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 74.89 g/m2 (62.5-85.47 g/m2) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Laxton_2005]
leaf_shape (categorical): deltate (1); lanceolate (1); linear (2); oblong (1); ovate (1); subulate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1); toothed (1); toothed_serrate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
leaf_arrangement (categorical): clustered (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
plant_growth_form (categorical): fern (7); herb (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Fonseca_2000; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; Wells_2012; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
life_form (categorical): geophyte (1); phanerophyte (1) [sources: Cheal_2017; Williams_2011]
life_history (categorical): perennial (2) [sources: Cheal_2017; Wenk_2023]
plant_growth_substrate (categorical): terrestrial (1) [sources: RBGV_2022]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_system (categorical): abiotic (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (3) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020; Williams_2011]
dispersers (categorical): passive (1); wind (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Wells_2012; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
bud_bank_location (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 10 mg/g (10-10 mg/g) [sources: Laxton_2005]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0 mg (0-0 mg) [sources: Williams_2011]

whole plant morphology

plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	18	18	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
ABRS_2023	7	13	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Laxton_2005	11	11	E. Laxton. “Relationship between leaf traits, insect communities and resource availability”. PhD. Macquarie University, 2005. url: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/483.
NSWFRD_2014	8	11	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.
Williams_2011	11	11	R. 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.
Fonseca_2000	5	9	C. R. Fonseca, J. M. Overton, B. Collins, and M. Westoby. “Shifts in trait-combinations along rainfall and phosphorus gradients”. Journal of Ecology 88 (2000), pp. 964-977. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00506.x.
NHNSW_2023	6	7	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/.
RBGV_2023	7	7	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Cheal_2017	6	6	D. 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.
Wells_2012	5	5	J. A. Wells. “Phylogeny and inter-relations of ecological traits and seed dispersal in rainforest plants: Exploring aspects of functional diversity in primary and secondary rainforests in Australia's Wet Tropics.”. PhD. University of Queensland, 2012.
Kubiak_2009	3	4	P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
RBGV_2022	3	3	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
ABRS_2022	2	2	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2022	2	2	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/.
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.