AusTraits

Coleus australis

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Lamiaceae

Taxonomy: Coleus australis (R.Br.) A.J.Paton

Synonyms: 15 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Germanea australis (R.Br.) Britten (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis R.Br. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis R.Br. f. australis (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis R.Br. var. australis (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis f. densiflora Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis var. vulgaris Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus australis var. vulgaris W.E.Cooper (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus Willd. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus Willd. var. parviflorus (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus var. australis (R.Br.) Briq. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus var. elatior Benth. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus var. major F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus var. major W.E.Cooper (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus parviflorus var. minor F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
  • Plectranthus sieberi Benth. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): Qld, NSW, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Clarke_2015 (2), Collette_2021 (1), Cooper_2013 (11), Hughes_1992 (3), Jagdish_2020 (4), Kew_2019_1 (5), Kubiak_2009 (5), McGlone_2015 (6), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (14), NSWFRD_2014 (9), Ooi_2007 (101), Pickup_2021 (15), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (20), Sjostrom_2006 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19), Wright_2000 (9). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 62 traits from 239 records in 21 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): fire_killed (8) [sources: Clarke_2015; Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; White_2020]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (3) [sources: Pickup_2021]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 4 mm (3-5 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • fruit_type (categorical): mericarp (1); nut (1); nutlet (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; RBGV_2023; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 50 mm (20-65 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 33.33 mm (20-40 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 2.75 cm (0.5-5 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): oblong (2); orbicular (2); ovate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): cuneate (1); truncate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): toothed_crenate (2); toothed_dentate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): cam (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (4); shrub (7) [sources: Cooper_2013; Hughes_1992; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (3) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): prostrate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): zoochory (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): invertebrates (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnnnn (1); nnnnnnnnnyyy (1); yyynnnnyyyyy (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; Hughes_1992; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (4) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (4); transient (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): physiological_dormancy (2) [sources: Collette_2021; Ooi_2007]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • storage_organ (categorical): stem_tuber (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (1) [sources: Clarke_2015]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.3 mg (0.02-0.81 mg) [sources: Jagdish_2020; Kew_2019_1; Ooi_2007]
  • seed_length (numerical): 1 mm (1-1 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • seed_width (numerical): 0.85 mm (0.8-0.9 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): lenticular (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Ooi_20072101M. K. J. Ooi, P. Myerscough, and T. Auld. “Unpublished data: Longterm seed mass field campaign, University of New South Wales”. 2007.
RBGV_20231420VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
White_20201919M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Pickup_2021515M. Pickup and T. McDonald. Bushfire impacts — A national model for assessing local landscape restoration priorities. Project Phoenix Report. Greening Australia, 2021. url: https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1.02R2.pdf.
NHNSW_20231014N. 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/.
Cooper_2013911W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
NSWFRD_201489B. 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.
Wright_200099I. J. Wright, H. T. Clifford, R. Kidson, M. L. Reed, B. L. Rice, and M. Westoby. “A survey of seed and seedling characters in 1744 Australian dicotyledon species: Cross-species trait correlations and correlated trait-shifts within evolutionary lineages”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69 (2000), pp. 521-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01222.x.
McGlone_201566M. S. McGlone, S. J. Richardson, G. J. Jordan, and G. L. Perry. “Is there a `suboptimal' woody species height? A response to Scheffer et al.”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 30.1 (2015), pp. 4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.007.
Kew_2019_115Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kubiak_200945P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Jagdish_202024A. Jagdish. “Unpublished data: Germination photoperiod sensitivity of Australian Plants, University of New South Wales”. 2020.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Hughes_199233L. Hughes and B. Rice. “Unpublished data: Traits data for 643 species, Macquarie University”. 1992.
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/.
RBGV_202233VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Clarke_201522P. 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.
Sjostrom_200622A. 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.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Collette_202111J. C. Collette and M. K. J. Ooi. “Distribution of seed dormancy classes across a fire-prone continent: effects of rainfall seasonality and temperature”. Annals of Botany 127.5 (2021), pp. 613-620. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcaa203.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.