Chrysopogon fallax

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Chrysopogon fallax S.T.Blake

Synonyms: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Chrysopogon gryllus subvar. pilosus Domin (taxonomic synonym)

Misapplied names: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)

Andropogon gryllus L. (misapplied)
Chrysopogon gryllus (L.) Trin. (misapplied)
Holcus gryllus (L.) R.Br. (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (2), Hall_1981 (8), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kew_2019_6 (3), Lord_1997 (3), Metcalfe_2020_2 (19), Mott_1978 (36), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (8), NSWFRD_2014 (4), Nano_2011 (2), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (3), Schmidt_2010 (84), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (18). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 61 traits from 216 records in 23 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 (3) [sources: Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1); monoecious (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (5) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; WAH_2023_2]
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): 675 mm2 (675-675 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 250 mm (50-450 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_width (numerical): 4.5 mm (2-7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): sheathing (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_margin_posture (categorical): involute (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): conduplicate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1); c4 (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Munroe_2019; Schmidt_2010; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); herb (4); tussock (3) [sources: Hall_1981; Lord_1997; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; SAH_2022; Schmidt_2010; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: Hall_1981; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022]
leaf_phenology (categorical): evergreen (1) [sources: Schmidt_2010]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Schmidt_2010; White_2020]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1); self (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (4) [sources: Draper_2023; Lord_1997; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): ynnnnnnnyyyy (1); yynnnnnnnnny (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (2); fleshy_underground_organ (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 8.57 mg/g (5.91-11.3 mg/g) [sources: Hall_1981; Schmidt_2010]
leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.9 mg/g (0.65-1.7 mg/g) [sources: Hall_1981; Schmidt_2010]
leaf_delta13C (numerical): -12.85 {delta}[ppth] (-13.5--12.11 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Schmidt_2010]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.88 mg (1.86-1.9 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Lord_1997]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 1.15 m (0.3-1.5 m) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Schmidt_2010	20	84	S. Schmidt, R. E. Lamble, R. J. Fensham, and I. Siddique. “Effect of woody vegetation clearing on nutrient and carbon relations of semi-arid dystrophic savanna”. Plant and Soil 331.1-2 (2009), pp. 79-90. doi: 10.1007/s11104-009-0233-5.
Mott_1978	1	36	J. J. Mott. “Dormancy and Germination in Five Native Grass Species From Savannah Woodland Communities of the Northern Territory”. Australian Journal of Botany 26.5 (1978), p. 621. ISSN: 0067-1924. doi: 10.1071/bt9780621.
Metcalfe_2020_2	17	19	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
White_2020	18	18	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Hall_1981	4	8	T. J. Hall. “The nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of some pasture species in the Dichanthium-Eulalia Grasslands of North-West Queensland.”. The Rangeland Journal 3.1 (1981), pp. 67-73. doi: 10.1071/rj9810067.
NHNSW_2023	8	8	N. 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/.
NHNSW_2022	4	4	N. 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/.
NSWFRD_2014	4	4	B. Kenny, C. Orscheg, E. Tasker, M. A. Gill, and R. Bradstock. NSW Flora Fire Response Database, v2.1. database. NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, 2014.
SAH_2022	4	4	S. 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/.
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.
Kew_2019_6	1	3	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Lord_1997	3	3	J. Lord, J. Egan, T. Clifford, E. Jurado, M. Leishman, D. Williams, and M. Westoby. “Larger seeds in tropical floras: Consistent patterns independent of growth form and dispersal mode”. Journal of Biogeography 24 (1997), pp. 205-211. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2699.1997.00126.x.
SAH_2023	3	3	S. 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_2022_2	3	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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/.
Crowley_2007	2	2	G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Draper_2023	2	2	J. 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.
Nano_2011	2	2	C. 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.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Munroe_2019	1	1	S. E. M. Munroe, F. A. McInerney, J. Andrae, N. Welti, G. R. Guerin, E. Leitch, T. Hall, S. Szarvas, R. Atkins, S. Caddy-Retalic, and B. Sparrow. “The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in Australia's National Terrestrial Monitoring Network”. Scientific Data 8 (2021), p. 97. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00877-z.
NHNSW_2014_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.