AusTraits

Cenchrus setaceus

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Cenchrus setaceus (Forssk.) Morrone

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Pennisetum setaceum (Forssk.) Chiov. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Phalaris setacea Forssk. (nomenclatural synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Pennisetum alopecuroides (L.) Spreng. (misapplied)
  • Pennisetum orientale Rich. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), Vic (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Metcalfe_2020_2 (20), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (4), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (7), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_1 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Yang_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 27 traits from 63 records in 15 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
  • sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 270 mm2 (270-270 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 412.5 mm (150-600 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 3 mm (1-4 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): conduplicate (1); flat (1); involute (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (3); herb (3); tussock (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (2); rhizomatous (2) [sources: RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); epizoochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_2]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.64 mg (1.64-1.64 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 1.09 m (0.4-1.5 m) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_21820D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
RBGV_202377VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202344N. 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_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.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.
WAH_2022_144Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.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/.
NHNSW_202233N. 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/.
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/.
WAH_2023_223Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
SAH_202322S. 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/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
NHNSW_2014_211Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.
Yang_202311S. Yang. “Unpublished data: Fire response traits scored from national and state floras and the taxonomic literature, University of New South Wales”. 2023.