AusTraits

Carissa lanceolata

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Apocynaceae

Taxonomy: Carissa lanceolata R.Br.

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Arduina brownii K.Schum. (pro parte taxonomic synonym)
  • Carissa brownii F.Muell. (pro parte taxonomic synonym)
  • Carissa brownii var. angustifolia Kempe (taxonomic synonym)
  • Carissa brownii var. lanceolata (R.Br.) Tate (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Carissa velutina Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Carissa spinarum L. (pro parte misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (22), Clarke_2015 (6), Cooper_2013 (13), Crowley_2007 (2), Dong_2017 (8), Draper_2023 (3), Kooyman_2011 (13), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (18), Nano_2011 (4), RussellSmith_2012 (4), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (17), Schulze_1998 (8), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (1), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Westoby_2014 (29). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 72 traits from 166 records in 20 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 (6) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; RussellSmith_2012]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (1); post_fire_recruitment_absent (2) [sources: Clarke_2015; Nano_2011]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 7.62 mm (5-13 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 6.5 mm (5-10 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 6 mm (5-7 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): berry (3); drupe (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): fleshy (1) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): black (3); purple (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 120 mm2 (120-120 mm2) [sources: Westoby_2014]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 28.25 mm (7-50 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 7.25 mm (2-15 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 0.2 cm (0.1-0.3 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 170.8 g/m2 (127.4-223.71 g/m2) [sources: Dong_2017; Schulze_1998; Westoby_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (2); narrowly_elliptical (1); obtriangular (1); ovate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): unlobed (1) [sources: Kooyman_2011]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_arrangement (categorical): decussate (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (8) [sources: ABRS_2022; Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; Schulze_1998; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1); open (1); sprawling (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (2) [sources: Kooyman_2011; Schulze_1998]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Dong_2017; Schulze_1998]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • dispersers (categorical): vertebrates (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yyyyyynnnnnn (1) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: RussellSmith_2012]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (4); epicormic_buds (2) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
nutrient and stable isotope
  • leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 12.03 mg/g (10.95-12.84 mg/g) [sources: Dong_2017; Schulze_1998; Westoby_2014]
  • leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.51 mg/g (0.51-0.51 mg/g) [sources: Westoby_2014]
  • leaf_delta13C (numerical): -28.48 {delta}[ppth] (-28.9--28.02 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Dong_2017; Schulze_1998; Westoby_2014]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 6 mm (6-6 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011]
  • seed_width (numerical): 4 mm (4-4 mm) [sources: Kooyman_2011]
  • seed_shape (categorical): globoid_flattened (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
stem morphology
  • wood_density (numerical): 0.68 mg/mm3 (0.68-0.68 mg/mm3) [sources: Westoby_2014]
  • huber_value (numerical): 0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf} (0-0 mm2{sapwood}/mm2{leaf}) [sources: Westoby_2014]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 2.68 m (1.2-3 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011; NTH_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Westoby_20142929S. M. Gleason, D. W. Butler, K. Zieminska, P. Waryszak, and M. Westoby. “Stem xylem conductivity is key to plant water balance across Australian angiosperm species”. Functional Ecology 26 (2012), pp. 343-352. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2012.01962.x.
ABRS_20231622Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NTH_20231318D. 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/.
SAH_20231317S. 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/.
Cooper_20131013W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
Kooyman_2011913R. Kooyman, M. Rossetto, W. Cornwell, and M. Westoby. “Phylogenetic tests of community assembly across regional to continental scales in tropical and subtropical rain forests”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20 (2011), pp. 707-716. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00641.x.
Dong_201788N. Dong, I. C. Prentice, B. J. Evans, S. Caddy-Retalic, A. J. Lowe, and I. J. Wright. “Leaf nitrogen from first principles: field evidence for adaptive variation with climate”. Biogeosciences 14.2 (2017), pp. 481-495. doi: 10.5194/bg-14-481-2017.
Schulze_199888E. -. Schulze, R. J. Williams, G. D. Farquhar, W. Schulze, J. Langridge, J. M. Miller, and B. H. Walker. “Carbon and nitrogen isotope discrimination and nitrogen nutrition of trees along a rainfall gradient in northern Australia”. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 25.4 (1998), pp. 413-425. doi: 10.1071/PP97113.
Clarke_201536P. 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.
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.
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/.
Nano_201134C. 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.
RussellSmith_201244J. Russell-Smith, M. R. Gardener, C. Brock, K. Brennan, C. P. Yates, and B. Grace. “Fire persistence traits can be used to predict vegetation response to changing fire regimes at expansive landscape scales - an Australian example”. Journal of Biogeography 39 (2012), pp. 1657-1668. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02714.x.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Draper_202333J. 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.
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/.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
WAH_2023_211Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.