AusTraits

Comesperma polygaloides

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Polygalaceae

Taxonomy: Comesperma polygaloides F.Muell.

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Bredemeyera polygaloides (F.Muell.) Chodat ex Anon. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Comesperma selaginoides Turcz. (doubtful taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, SA, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Cheal_2017 (5), Collette_2021 (1), Draper_2023 (3), Kew_2019_1 (1), McGlone_2015 (6), RBGV_2022 (2), RBGV_2023 (15), SAH_2014 (5), SAH_2022 (1), SAH_2023 (9), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Williams_2005 (4), Williams_2011 (10). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 50 traits from 95 records in 19 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): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 8 mm (6-10 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (3) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 10.67 mm (5-17 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 2.33 mm (1-3 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_obovate (1); oblong (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: McGlone_2015; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): glaucous (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): shrub (4); subshrub (4) [sources: McGlone_2015; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (2) [sources: Williams_2005; Williams_2011]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (4); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: Cheal_2017; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023; Williams_2005]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (2); woody_base (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • pollination_system (categorical): biotic_unspecialised (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (3); barochory (1); myrmecochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020; Williams_2005; Williams_2011]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); passive (1); wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yyynnnnnnyyy (1); yyyynnnnnyyy (1) [sources: WAH_1998; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): non_dormant (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1); vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2005]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.6 mg (0.6-0.6 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1]
  • seed_length (numerical): 3 mm (3-3 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 0.8 mm (0.8-0.8 mm) [sources: SAH_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_20231215VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Williams_20111010R. P. Duncan, S. E. Clemants, R. T. Corlett, A. K. Hahs, M. A. McCarthy, M. J. McDonnell, M. W. Schwartz, K. Thompson, P. A. Vesk, and N. S. G. Williams. “Plant traits and extinction in urban areas: a meta-analysis of 11 cities”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20.4 (2011), pp. 509-519. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00633.x.
SAH_202399S. 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/.
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.
Cheal_201755D. 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.
SAH_201435J. P. Jessop and H. R. Toelken. Flora of South Australia, 4th edition, 4 vols. Electronic version curated by J. Kellermann, State Herbarium of South Australia.. Government Printer, Adelaide, 1986.
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.
Williams_200544N. S. G. Williams, J. W. Morgan, M. J. McDonnell, and M. A. McCarthy. “Plant traits and local extinctions in natural grasslands along an urban-rural gradient”. Journal of Ecology 93.6 (2005), pp. 1203-1213. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01039.x.
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.
WAH_2022_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
RBGV_202222VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_212Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.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.
Kew_2019_111Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
SAH_202211S. 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_199811Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.