Caustis dioica

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Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Caustis dioica R.Br.

Synonyms: 7 (APC 2026-07-30)

Caustis dioica R.Br. f. dioica (nomenclatural synonym)
Caustis dioica R.Br. var. dioica (nomenclatural synonym)
Caustis dioica f. multiandra H.Pfeiff. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
Caustis dioica var. eciliata Kük. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
Caustis hexandra Nees (taxonomic synonym)
Caustis pilisepala (Steud.) H.Pfeiff. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)
Restio pilisepalus Steud. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Burrows_2008_2 (3), Burrows_2020 (3), Gosper_2012 (5), Harvey_2017 (6), Sjostrom_2006 (3), Tsakalos_2020 (17), Tsakalos_2022 (3), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (5), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wheeler_2002 (9), vanderMoezel_1987 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 33 traits from 62 records in 14 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: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Gosper_2012; Harvey_2017; Tsakalos_2020; vanderMoezel_1987]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): monoecious (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2]

fruit morphology

fruit_type (categorical): nut (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

leaf morphology

leaf_length (numerical): 25 mm (5-45 mm) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
leaf_width (numerical): 150 mm (150-150 mm) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
leaf_shape (categorical): linear (1) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_lobation (categorical): unlobed (1) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; Wheeler_2002]
leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (1); leaf (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (1); herb (2); tussock (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; Wheeler_2002]
life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023; Wheeler_2002]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (3) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyyyy (1); ynnnnnnyyyyy (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; WAH_1998]
seedbank_location (categorical): canopy_seedbank_absent (2); soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Gosper_2012; Harvey_2017]
serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (2) [sources: Gosper_2012; Harvey_2017]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2022]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2022]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (2); rhizome_non_woody (1) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Tsakalos_2022]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.56 m (0.15-0.7 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2; Wheeler_2002]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Tsakalos_2020	16	17	J. L. Tsakalos, M. Renton, F. Riviera, E. J. Veneklaas, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Trait-based formal definition of plant functional types and functional communities in the multi-species and multi-traits context”. Ecological Complexity 40 (2019), p. 100787. doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2019.100787.
Wheeler_2002	8	9	J. R. Wheeler, N. G. Marchant, and M. Lewington. Flora of the south west: Bunbury, Augusta, Denmark. Australian Biological Resources Study ; University of Western Australia Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780642568168.
Harvey_2017	6	6	J. M. Harvey, A. J. M. Hopkins, M. A. Langley, C. R. Gosper, M. R. Williams, and C. J. Yates. “Long-term studies of post-fire reproduction in an Australian shrubland and woodland”. Australian Journal of Botany 65.4 (2017), p. 339. doi: 10.1071/bt17011.
Gosper_2012	5	5	C. R. Gosper, C. J. Yates, and S. M. Prober. “Changes in plant species and functional composition with time since fire in two mediterranean climate plant communities”. Journal of Vegetation Science 23.6 (2012), pp. 1071-1081. doi: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01434.x.
WAH_2022_2	5	5	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Burrows_2008_2	3	3	N. D. Burrows, G. Wardell-Johnson, and B. Ward. “Post-fire juvenile period of plants in south-west Australia forests and implications for fire management”. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 91 (2008), pp. 163-174. ISSN: 0035922X. url: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19156 (visited on 03/27/2025).
Burrows_2020	3	3	N. Burrows. Data from 'Plant Ecological Attributes' theme, NatureMap, DBCA, WA. 2020.
Sjostrom_2006	3	3	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.
Tsakalos_2022	3	3	J. L. Tsakalos, G. Ottaviani, S. Chelli, A. Rea, S. Elder, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Plant clonality in a soil-impoverished open ecosystem: insights from southwest Australian shrublands”. Annals of Botany 130.7 (2022), pp. 981-990. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcac131.
WAH_2023_2	2	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
WAH_1998	1	1	Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.
vanderMoezel_1987	1	1	P. G. van der Moezel, W. A. Loneragan, and D. T. Bell. “Northern Sandplain Kwongan - regeneration following fire, juvenile period and flowering phenology”. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 69.4 (1987), pp. 123-132.