AusTraits

Cyperus brevifolius

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Cyperus brevifolius (Rottb.) Endl. ex Hassk.

Synonyms: 6 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cyperus brevifolius (Rottb.) Endl. ex Hassk. var. brevifolius (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Kyllinga brevifolia Rottb. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Kyllinga colorata (L.) Druce (taxonomic synonym)
  • Kyllingia brevifolia Nees (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Kyllingia colorata Druce (taxonomic synonym)
  • Schoenus coloratus L. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cyperus kyllingia Endl. (misapplied)
  • Kyllinga monocephala Rottb. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (doubtfully naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), LHI (naturalised), NI (naturalised), ACT (naturalised), Vic (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ATRP_2020 (2), Kubiak_2009 (3), Metcalfe_2020_1 (19), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (9), NSWFRD_2014 (9), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (9), SAH_2014 (2), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (5), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 34 traits from 81 records in 16 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): red_brown (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.25 mm (1-1.5 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 0.6 mm (0.5-0.7 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 0.6 mm (0.5-0.7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • fruit_type (categorical): nut (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2); yellow (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 100 mm (50-150 mm) [sources: SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 2.06 mm (1-3 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): sheathing (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (5); herb (5); tussock (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): geophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: ATRP_2020; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): creeping (1); rhizomatous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); anthrochory (1); hydrochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NSWFRD_2014]
  • dispersers (categorical): vehicles (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnyyyy (1); yyynnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): belowground_clonal (1); rhizome (1) [sources: ATRP_2020; Metcalfe_2020_1]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.5 m (0.5-0.5 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_11619D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Database of Cyperaceae traits, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_202369N. 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_201499B. 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.
RBGV_202369VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202345S. 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_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/.
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/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Kubiak_200933P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
ATRP_202022F. 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.
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
SAH_201412J. 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.
WAH_2023_222Western 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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.