AusTraits

Comesperma scoparium

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Polygalaceae

Taxonomy: Comesperma scoparium J.Drumm.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Bredemeyera scoparia (J.Drumm.) Chodat ex Anon. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Bredemeyera scoparium Anon. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Comesperma scoparia J.Drumm. (orthographic variant)

Distribution (APC): WA, SA, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ANBG_2019 (6), Cheal_2017 (6), Clarke_2015 (1), Collette_2021 (1), Draper_2023 (3), Harvey_2017 (6), Kew_2019_1 (2), McGlone_2015 (6), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (11), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (16), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Tsakalos_2020 (17), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 54 traits from 117 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
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 5.75 mm (5-6.5 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (3) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 1.75 mm (1-2 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 1 mm (1-1 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015]
  • leaf_type (categorical): scale (1) [sources: McGlone_2015]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_triangular (1); triangular (1) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (1); leaf (3) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (1); shrub (5) [sources: McGlone_2015; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (5); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: Cheal_2017; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (1); woody (3); woody_base (1) [sources: RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (4); spindly (1) [sources: RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; 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): nnnnnnyyyynn (1); nyyyyyyyyyyn (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; WAH_1998; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): canopy_seedbank_absent (1); soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Harvey_2017]
  • serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (1) [sources: Harvey_2017]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1); persistent (1) [sources: Cheal_2017; White_2020]
  • seed_dormancy_class (categorical): non_dormant (1) [sources: Collette_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.82 mg (1.24-2.22 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1]
  • seed_length (numerical): 3.7 mm (2.5-4.65 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; SAH_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 2.13 mm (2.13-2.13 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019]
  • seed_shape (categorical): cylindrical (1); ellipsoid_flattened (1); ovoid_elongated (1) [sources: ANBG_2019; RBGV_2023; SAH_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.
Tsakalos_20201617J. L. Tsakalos, M. Renton, F. Riviera, E. J. Veneklaas, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Trait-based formal definition of plant functional types and functional communities in the multi-species and multi-traits context”. Ecological Complexity 40 (2019), p. 100787. doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2019.100787.
SAH_20231316S. 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/.
RBGV_2023911VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
ANBG_201966Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
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.
Harvey_201766J. M. Harvey, A. J. M. Hopkins, M. A. Langley, C. R. Gosper, M. R. Williams, and C. J. Yates. “Long-term studies of post-fire reproduction in an Australian shrubland and woodland”. Australian Journal of Botany 65.4 (2017), p. 339. doi: 10.1071/bt17011.
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.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202244S. 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_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_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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.
Kew_2019_112Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.
Clarke_201511P. 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.
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.
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.