Calamus australis

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Family Arecaceae

Taxonomy: Calamus australis Mart.

Synonyms: 4 (APC 2026-07-30)

Calamus amischus Burret (taxonomic synonym)
Calamus jaboolum F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
Calamus obstruens F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
Palmijuncus australis (Mart.) Kuntze (nomenclatural synonym)

Distribution (APC): Qld

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (5), ABRS_2023 (12), ATRP_2020 (1), Cheesman_2020 (25), Cooper_2004 (1), Cooper_2013 (13), Gallagher_2012 (3), Grubb_2008 (3), Hyland_2003 (1), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kew_2019_5 (1), Metcalfe_2009 (16), NHNSW_2016 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Togashi_2015 (2), Wells_2012 (55), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 66 traits from 148 records in 18 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 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): dioecious (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 13.5 mm (10-17 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013]
fruit_width (numerical): 11 mm (8-14 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013]
fruit_type (categorical): drupe (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): fleshy (5) [sources: Cooper_2013; Gallagher_2012; Metcalfe_2009; Sjostrom_2006; Wells_2012]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): brown (1); cream (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 5600.06 mm2 (2520-7910 mm2) [sources: Cheesman_2020; Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2016]
leaflet_area (numerical): 1006.74 mm2 (647.71-1179.02 mm2) [sources: Wells_2012]
leaf_length (numerical): 1150 mm (300-2000 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 30 mm (30-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
petiole_length (numerical): 10 cm (5-15 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 49.14 g/m2 (33.41-91.8 g/m2) [sources: Cheesman_2020; Grubb_2008; Wells_2012]
leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.33 g/g (0.32-0.35 g/g) [sources: Wells_2012]
leaf_water_content_per_dry_mass (numerical): 1.5 g/g (1.5-1.5 g/g) [sources: Grubb_2008]
leaf_shape (categorical): filiform (1); lanceolate (1); linear (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2016]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
plant_growth_form (categorical): climber_herbaceous (2); climber_woody (4); palmoid (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; Cheesman_2020; Cooper_2013; Metcalfe_2009; Wells_2012; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): phanerophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2009; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (2); woody (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Hyland_2003; Wenk_2022]
plant_climbing_mechanism (categorical): hooks (1) [sources: Gallagher_2012]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): climbing (1) [sources: ABRS_2022]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): bee (1); beetle (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Wells_2012]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (2); zoochory (1) [sources: Cooper_2004; Kew_2019_5; Metcalfe_2009]
dispersers (categorical): birds (2); cassowaries (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; Wells_2012]
flowering_time (categorical): nyyyyynnnnnn (1) [sources: Cooper_2013]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 17.56 mg/g (14.33-19.8 mg/g) [sources: Cheesman_2020; Grubb_2008]
leaf_delta13C (numerical): -32.7 {delta}[ppth] (-35.27--27.57 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Cheesman_2020]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 410 mg (410-410 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1]
seed_length (numerical): 10 mm (10-10 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013]
seed_shape (categorical): globoid (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]

stem morphology

wood_density (numerical): 0.35 mg/mm3 (0.2-0.63 mg/mm3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Wells_2012]
huber_value (numerical): 0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf} (0-0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf}) [sources: Togashi_2015]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 35 m (35-35 m) [sources: ABRS_2023]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): sharp_pointed_defence (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Wells_2012	22	55	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.
Cheesman_2020	12	25	A. W. Cheesman, H. Duff, K. Hill, L. A. Cernusak, and F. A. McInerney. “Isotopic and morphologic proxies for reconstructing light environment and leaf function of fossil leaves: A modern calibration in the Daintree Rainforest, Australia”. American Journal of Botany 107 (2020), pp. 1165-1176. doi: 10.1002/ajb2.1523.
Metcalfe_2009	16	16	E. Laliberte, J. A. Wells, F. DeClerck, D. J. Metcalfe, C. P. Catterall, C. Queiroz, I. Aubin, S. P. Bonser, Y. Ding, J. M. Fraterrigo, S. McNamara, J. W. Morgan, D. S. Merlos, P. A. Vesk, and M. M. Mayfield. “Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities”. Ecology Letters 13.1 (2010), pp. 76-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01403.x.
Cooper_2013	10	13	W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
ABRS_2023	10	12	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
ABRS_2022	5	5	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
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.
Gallagher_2012	3	3	R. V. Gallagher and M. R. Leishman. “A global analysis of trait variation and evolution in climbing plants”. Journal of Biogeography 39.10 (2012), pp. 1757-1771. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02773.x.
Grubb_2008	3	3	P. J. Grubb, R. V. Jackson, I. M. Barberis, J. N. Bee, D. A. Coomes, N. J. Dominy, M. A. S. D. L. Fuente, P. W. Lucas, D. J. Metcalfe, J. Svenning, I. M. Turner, and O. Vargas. “Monocot leaves are eaten less than dicot leaves in tropical lowland rain forests: Correlations with toughness and leaf presentation”. Annals of Botany 101 (2008), pp. 1379-1389. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcn047.
NHNSW_2016	2	2	National Herbarium of NSW. Trait measurements for NSW rainforest species from PLantNET. 2016. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Togashi_2015	1	2	H. F. Togashi, I. C. Prentice, B. J. Evans, D. I. Forrester, P. Drake, P. Feikema, K. Brooksbank, D. Eamus, and D. Taylor. “Morphological and moisture availability controls of the leaf area-to-sapwood area ratio: analysis of measurements on Australian trees”. Ecology and Evolution 5.6 (2015), pp. 1263-1270. doi: 10.1002/ece3.1344.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
ATRP_2020	1	1	F. A. Zich, B. P. Hyland, T. Whiffin, and R. A. Kerrigan. Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. 2020. url: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/intro/index.html.
Cooper_2004	1	1	W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Fruits of the Australian tropical rainforest. Nokomis Editions, 2004. ISBN: 9780958174213.
Hyland_2003	1	1	B. P. M. Hyland, T. Whiffin, D. Christophel, B. Gray, and R. W. Elick. Australian tropical rain forest plants trees, shrubs and vines. CSIRO Publishing, 2003. ISBN: 0643068724.
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_5	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.