AusTraits

Comesperma defoliatum

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Polygalaceae

Taxonomy: Comesperma defoliatum F.Muell.

Synonyms: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Bredemeyera defoliata (F.Muell.) Anon. (nomenclatural synonym)
Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Comesperma nudiusculum DC. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): Qld, NSW, Vic, Tas

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Cheal_2017 (6), Clarke_2009 (2), Clarke_2015 (3), Collette_2021 (1), Draper_2023 (3), Hughes_1992 (4), Jordan_2001 (5), McGlone_2015 (6), Mokany_2015 (2), NHNSW_2014_2 (3), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (12), NSWFRD_2014 (11), RBGV_2022 (2), RBGV_2023 (15), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Wright_2000 (4). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 52 traits from 110 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
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2); monoecious (1) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 8.12 mm (6.5-11 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (3) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 31.42 mm2 (31.42-31.42 mm2) [sources: Mokany_2015]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 11.17 mm (5-15 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 1.67 mm (1-2 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_type (categorical): scale (1) [sources: McGlone_2015]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (1); linear (1); narrowly_elliptical (1); narrowly_oblanceolate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (6); subshrub (3) [sources: Clarke_2009; Hughes_1992; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (4); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: Cheal_2017; Jordan_2001; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (2); woody_base (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); barochory (1); myrmecochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); passive (1); wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1); yyyyynnnnnyy (3) [sources: Hughes_1992; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (1) [sources: Hughes_1992]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1); persistent (2) [sources: Cheal_2017; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): non_dormant (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1); basal_stem_buds (2) [sources: Clarke_2009; Clarke_2015; NSWFRD_2014]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 2 mm (1.5-2.5 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ovoid (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20202020M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
RBGV_20231115VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_20231012N. 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/.
NSWFRD_2014911B. 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.
Cheal_201766D. Cheal. Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets. Fire and adaptive management, report no. 84. Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, 2010.
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.
Jordan_200155G. J. Jordan. “An investigation of long-distance dispersal based on species native to both Tasmania and New Zealand”. Australian Journal of Botany 49.3 (2001), pp. 333-340. doi: 10.1071/bt00024.
Hughes_199244L. Hughes and B. Rice. “Unpublished data: Traits data for 643 species, Macquarie University”. 1992.
NHNSW_202244N. 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/.
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.
Wright_200044I. 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.
Clarke_201533P. 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.
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.
NHNSW_2014_233Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Clarke_200922P. J. Clarke, K. J. E. Knox, M. L. Campbell, and L. M. Copeland. “Post-fire recovery of woody plants in the New England Tableland Bioregion”. Cunninghamia 11 (2009), pp. 221-239. doi: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/4907.
Mokany_201522K. Mokany, J. J. Thomson, A. J. J. Lynch, G. J. Jordan, and S. Ferrier. “Linking changes in community composition and function under climate change”. Ecological Applications 25.8 (2015), pp. 2132-2141. doi: 10.1890/14-2384.1.
RBGV_202222VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
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.