Cymbopogon ambiguus

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Cymbopogon ambiguus (Hack.) A.Camus

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)

Andropogon ambiguus Steud. (nomenclatural synonym)
Andropogon exaltatus var. ambiguus Hack. (nomenclatural synonym)
Andropogon spectabilis Hack. (taxonomic synonym)
Cymbopogon exaltatus var. ambiguus (Hack.) Domin (nomenclatural synonym)
Cymbopogon exaltatus var. gracilior Domin (taxonomic synonym)

Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Cymbopogon exaltatus (R.Br.) Domin (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: ANBG_2019 (1), ATRP_2020 (2), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), GrassBase_2014 (5), Kew_2019_1 (1), Metcalfe_2020_2 (16), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (6), NSWFRD_2014 (4), Nano_2011 (2), Osborne_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Simpson_2021 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Sweedman_2006 (3), 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 44 traits from 94 records in 25 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); hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 2 mm (2-2 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
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): 585 mm2 (585-585 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 325 mm (150-500 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]
leaf_width (numerical): 3 mm (1-5 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]
leaf_shape (categorical): filiform (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): conduplicate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_glaucousness (categorical): glaucous (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): c4 (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Munroe_2019; Osborne_2014; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (3); herb (3); tussock (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: ATRP_2020; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (2) [sources: ATRP_2020; NHNSW_2022]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: 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): anemochory (2); epizoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): mammals (1); wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (3); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1); basal_stem_buds (2); root_crown (1) [sources: Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Simpson_2021]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.69 mg (1.31-2.07 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1]
seed_length (numerical): 2 mm (2-2 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 1.3 m (0.3-2 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
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.
Metcalfe_2020_2	16	16	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_2023	6	6	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/.
GrassBase_2014	3	5	W. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, and K. H. &. H. Williamson. GrassBase - The online world grass flora. 2006. url: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
SAH_2023	4	5	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/.
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.
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.
Draper_2023	3	3	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.
SAH_2022	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/.
Sweedman_2006	1	3	L. Sweedman and D. Merritt. Australian Seeds: A Guide to Their Collection, Identification, and Biology. CSIRO Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780643094079.
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/.
ATRP_2020	2	2	F. A. Zich, B. P. Hyland, T. Whiffin, and R. A. Kerrigan. Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. 2020. url: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/intro/index.html.
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).
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.
Simpson_2021	2	2	K. J. Simpson, E. C. Jardine, S. Archibald, E. J. Forrestel, C. E. R. Lehmann, G. H. Thomas, and C. P. Osborne. “Resprouting grasses are associated with less frequent fire than seeders”. New Phytologist 230 (2021), pp. 832-844. doi: 10.1111/nph.17069.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
ANBG_2019	1	1	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
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	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/search/simple.htm.
NHNSW_2014_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Osborne_2014	1	1	C. Osborne, A. Salomaa, T. Kluyver, V. Visser, E. Kellogg, O. Morrone, M. Vorontsova, W. Clayton, and D. Simpson. “A global database of C4 photosynthesis in grasses”. New Phytologist 204 (2014), pp. 441-446. doi: 10.1111/nph.12942.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.