Cyperus gymnocaulos

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Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Cyperus gymnocaulos Steud.

Synonyms: 4 (APC 2026-07-30)

Cyperus cruciformis Boeckeler (taxonomic synonym)
Cyperus vaginatus subsp. gymnocaulos (Steud.) Kük. (nomenclatural synonym)
Cyperus vaginatus var. densiflorus Benth. (taxonomic synonym)
Cyperus vaginatus var. gymnocaulos (Steud.) Probst (nomenclatural synonym)

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

Cyperus textilis Thunb. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld, NSW, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Crowley_2007 (1), Draper_2023 (3), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kew_2019_6 (2), Metcalfe_2020_1 (17), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (8), Nano_2011 (1), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (8), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (4), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Tsakalos_2020 (16), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Williams_2011 (9). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 48 traits from 118 records in 23 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 (4) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; Tsakalos_2020; White_2020]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 1 mm (1-1 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 0.57 mm (0.5-0.7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 0.6 mm (0.5-0.7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): nut (5) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): black (1); brown (3); grey (2); yellow (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_base_shape (categorical): sheathing (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (3) [sources: Munroe_2019; Tsakalos_2020; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (4); herb (2); tussock (6) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
life_form (categorical): geophyte (1); hemicryptophyte (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Williams_2011]
life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (2); erect (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
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 (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1); insect (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_1; White_2020]
pollination_system (categorical): abiotic (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); barochory (1); hydrochory (2); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020; Williams_2011]
dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); birds (1); water (2); wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyyyn (1); yynnnnnnyyyy (1); yyynnnyyyyyy (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_1998; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; White_2020]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): belowground_clonal (1); rhizome (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1; Williams_2011]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.11 mg (0.11-0.12 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Metcalfe_2020_1]
seed_length (numerical): 0.7 mm (0.7-0.7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_1]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.68 m (0.35-1 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	20	20	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_2020_1	16	17	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Database of Cyperaceae traits, CSIRO”. 2020.
Tsakalos_2020	15	16	J. 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.
Williams_2011	9	9	R. 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.
NHNSW_2023	6	8	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/.
RBGV_2023	6	8	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.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/.
RBGV_2022	4	4	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_2023	4	4	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/.
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.
WAH_2022_2	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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/.
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/.
Kew_2019_6	1	2	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Crowley_2007	1	1	G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
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_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Nano_2011	1	1	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.
WAH_1998	1	1	Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.