AusTraits

Boerhavia coccinea

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Nyctaginaceae

Taxonomy: Boerhavia coccinea Mill.

Synonyms: 8 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Boerhavia diffusa f. crassifolia Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia diffusa var. eurepens Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia diffusa var. xerophila Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia mutabilis R.Br. (pro parte taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia pubescens R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia repens var. pubescens (R.Br.) Fosberg (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia sp. Torrens Creek (C.T.White 8932) (taxonomic synonym)
  • Boerhavia xerophila Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Boerhavia diffusa L. (pro parte misapplied)
  • Boerhavia repens L. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (native and naturalised), NT, SA, Qld, NSW, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (12), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (4), Jurado_1991 (6), Jurado_1992 (3), Kew_2019_1 (6), Kew_2019_5 (1), Kew_2019_6 (1), Kocacinar_2003 (6), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (10), NTH_2014 (4), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (10), Nano_2011 (2), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (13), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (14), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (21). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 51 traits from 152 records in 29 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
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): pink (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 3.74 mm (3-4.25 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 1.4 mm (0.9-1.5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (1); anthocarp (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 330 mm2 (330-330 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 40.2 mm (5-60 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 25.38 mm (5-40 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 2.64 cm (0.2-3.7 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (4); lanceolate (1); narrowly_ovate (1); oblong (2); ovate (4); triangular (1); trullate (1); widely_ovate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2014; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (3) [sources: Kocacinar_2003; Munroe_2019; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (9) [sources: ABRS_2022; Jurado_1991; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (4); perennial (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (7); woody_root (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (5); prostrate (5); sprawling (2); spreading (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; White_2020]
  • leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (1) [sources: NTH_2014]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (3) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (4); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_5; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yyyynnnnnnny (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (2) [sources: 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]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (2); rhizome (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.74 mg (0.08-3.49 mg) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_1]
stem morphology
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20202121M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
SAH_20231114S. 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/.
RBGV_20231013VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
ABRS_20231012Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2023910N. 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/.
NTH_2023810D. 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/.
Jurado_199166E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
Kew_2019_116Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kocacinar_200366F. Kocacinar and R. F. Sage. “Photosynthetic pathway alters xylem structure and hydraulic function in herbaceous plants”. Plant, Cell & Environment 26.12 (2003), pp. 2015-2026. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2478.2003.01119.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.
Draper_202324J. 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.
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/.
NTH_201444Northern Territory Herbarium. Flora of the Darwin Region Online. 2014. url: http://www.lrm.nt.gov.au/plants-and-animals/herbarium/darwin_flora_online.
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/.
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/.
Jurado_199213E. Jurado and M. Westoby. “Germination biology of selected central Australian plants”. Austral Ecology 17.3 (1992), pp. 341-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1992.tb00816.x.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.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/.
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/.
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.
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.