Dactyloctenium aegyptium

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd.

Synonyms: 11 (APC 2026-07-30)

Chloris mucronata Michx. (taxonomic synonym)
Cynosurus aegyptius L. (nomenclatural synonym)
Cynosurus ciliaris Rottler ex Hook.f. (taxonomic synonym)
Dactyloctenium aegyptiacum Willd. (orthographic variant)
Dactyloctenium aegyptium var. aegyptium (nomenclatural synonym)
Dactyloctenium aegyptium var. mucronatum (Michx.) Schweinf. (taxonomic synonym)
Dactyloctenium ciliare Chiov. (taxonomic synonym)
Dactyloctenium figarei De Not. (taxonomic synonym)
Eleusine aegyptia (L.) Desf. (nomenclatural synonym)
Eleusine aegyptiaca Desf. (nomenclatural synonym)
Eleusine cruciata Lam. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), CoI (naturalised), ChI (naturalised), NT (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (3), ATRP_2020 (1), Metcalfe_2020_2 (22), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (7), NSWFRD_2014 (4), SAH_2022 (2), SAH_2023 (3), Simpson_2021 (3), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 31 traits from 67 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

resprouting_capacity (categorical): fire_killed (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Simpson_2021]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 1 mm (1-1 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; 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): 420 mm2 (420-420 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 140 mm (30-250 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_width (numerical): 5 mm (2-8 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (4); herb (5); tussock (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): annual (6); short_lived_perennial (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; NHNSW_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (2); prostrate (1); stoloniferous (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; WAH_2022_2]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): aboveground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
bud_bank_location (categorical): stolon (1) [sources: Simpson_2021]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.33 mg (0.33-0.33 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.65 m (0.1-1 m) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Metcalfe_2020_2	20	22	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_2023	6	7	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/.
ABRS_2022	4	4	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.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.
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/.
ABRS_2023	3	3	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2022	3	3	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/.
SAH_2023	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/.
Simpson_2021	3	3	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.
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/.
SAH_2022	2	2	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/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
ATRP_2020	1	1	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.
NHNSW_2014_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.