AusTraits

Carduus nutans

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Asteraceae

Taxonomy: Carduus nutans L.

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Carduus macrocephalus Desf. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
  • Carduus nutans L. subsp. nutans (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Carduus nutans subsp. acrocephalus N.C.W.Beadle (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
  • Carduus nutans subsp. macrocephalus (Desf.) Nyman (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
  • Carduus nutans var. macrocephalus (Desf.) B.Boivin (doubtful taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), ACT (naturalised), Vic (naturalised), Tas (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (2), ABRS_2023 (8), Doherty_2021 (3), NHNSW_2014_2 (3), NHNSW_2022 (6), NHNSW_2023 (28), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (14), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (14), WAH_2022_2 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 23 traits from 91 records in 13 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): blue_purple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 4.31 mm (3.3-5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 141.67 mm (50-250 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 60 mm (20-100 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (4); oblanceolate (4); oblong (1); rhomboidal (1); triangular (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): toothed (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (2); biennial (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): rosette (5) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2022_2]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Doherty_2021]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (1) [sources: Doherty_2021]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.92 m (0.7-1.5 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NHNSW_20231028N. 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_20231114VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
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/.
ABRS_202378Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_202236N. 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/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Doherty_202133M. Doherty. “Fire Severity and Plant Community Dynamics in the Australian Alps, Southeastern New South Wales”. PhD. Australian National University, 2021. url: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/224564.
NHNSW_2014_233Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_202233VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202233S. 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/.
ABRS_202222Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.