AusTraits

Bossiaea ensata

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Fabaceae

Taxonomy: Bossiaea ensata Sieber ex DC.

Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Bossiaea riparia A.Cunn. ex Benth. (pro parte misapplied)

Distribution (APC): SA, Qld, NSW, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Clarke_2015 (3), Collette_2021 (1), Fonseca_2000 (5), Hughes_1992 (5), Jordan_2001 (5), Kew_2019_1 (2), Leishman_1993 (1), Leishman_1995 (5), McCarthy_2017 (5), McGlone_2015 (6), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (6), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (7), NSWFRD_2014 (13), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (6), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (11), Schmidt_1993 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (18). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 55 traits from 121 records in 24 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): yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2); monoecious (1) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 35.83 mm (25-40 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 8 mm (8-8 mm) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 8 mm (8-8 mm) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): legume (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (3) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (1); red (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 8.4 mm2 (8.4-8.4 mm2) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 1.83 mm (1-2 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 1.6 mm (1.2-2 mm) [sources: Fonseca_2000; McGlone_2015]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 1 mg (1-1 mg) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 203.96 g/m2 (151.52-256.41 g/m2) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Leishman_1995]
  • leaf_type (categorical): scale (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): oblong (1); orbicular (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Munroe_2019; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (10) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Hughes_1992; Leishman_1995; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: Jordan_2001; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (3); prostrate (2); sprawling (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Schmidt_1993; White_2020]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Schmidt_1993]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): myrmecochory (3); zoochory (1) [sources: Hughes_1992; Leishman_1995; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); invertebrates (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyynn (1); nnnnnnnyyyyn (3) [sources: Hughes_1992; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (1) [sources: Hughes_1992]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): physical_dormancy (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1); basal_stem_buds (1) [sources: Clarke_2015; NSWFRD_2014]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 14.92 mg (8.56-17.2 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1993; Leishman_1995]
stem morphology
  • wood_density (numerical): 0.78 mg/mm3 (0.68-0.84 mg/mm3) [sources: McCarthy_2017]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20201818M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NSWFRD_20141313B. 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.
SAH_2023911S. 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/.
NHNSW_202357N. 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/.
McGlone_201566M. S. McGlone, S. J. Richardson, G. J. Jordan, and G. L. Perry. “Is there a `suboptimal' woody species height? A response to Scheffer et al.”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 30.1 (2015), pp. 4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.007.
NHNSW_2014_266Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_202366VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Fonseca_200055C. 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.
Hughes_199255L. Hughes and B. Rice. “Unpublished data: Traits data for 643 species, Macquarie University”. 1992.
Jordan_200155G. J. Jordan. “An investigation of long-distance dispersal based on species native to both Tasmania and New Zealand”. Australian Journal of Botany 49.3 (2001), pp. 333-340. doi: 10.1071/bt00024.
Leishman_199555M. R. Leishman, M. Westoby, and E. Jurado. “Correlates of seed size variation: A comparison among five temperate floras”. Journal of Ecology 83 (1995), pp. 517-529. doi: 10.2307/2261604.
McCarthy_201715J. 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.
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/.
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.
Clarke_201533P. J. Clarke, M. J. Lawes, B. P. Murphy, J. Russell-Smith, C. E. Nano, R. Bradstock, N. J. Enright, J. B. Fontaine, C. R. Gosper, I. Radford, J. J. Midgley, and R. M. Gunton. “A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems”. Science of The Total Environment 534 (2015), pp. 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.002.
Kew_2019_112Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Schmidt_199322S. Schmidt. “Unpublished data: Compilation of mycorrhizal status data, University of Queensland”. 1993.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Collette_202111J. C. Collette and M. K. J. Ooi. “Distribution of seed dormancy classes across a fire-prone continent: effects of rainfall seasonality and temperature”. Annals of Botany 127.5 (2021), pp. 613-620. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcaa203.
Leishman_199311M. Leishman. “Unpublished data: Seed mass data for Sydney species, Macquarie University”. 1990.
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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.