Deschampsia cespitosa

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P.Beauv.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)

Aira caespitosa F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
Aira cespitosa L. (nomenclatural synonym)
Deschampsia caespitosa P.Beauv. (orthographic variant)

Distribution (APC): SA (naturalised), NSW, Vic, Tas, MI

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (9), ANBG_2019 (10), Cheal_2017 (5), GrassBase_2014 (6), Jordan_2001 (7), Kew_2019_1 (20), Kew_2019_6 (21), Moore_2019_2 (55), NHNSW_2014 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (7), Osborne_2014 (1), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (7), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Simpson_2021 (3), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (18), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (2). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 54 traits from 200 records in 24 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): partial_resprouting (15); resprouts (5) [sources: Cheal_2017; Moore_2019_2; Simpson_2021]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1); green (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2); monoecious (1) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 3988.35 mm2 (3234.33-5031.89 mm2) [sources: Moore_2019_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 338.33 mm (80-600 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; RBGV_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 3.19 mm (1.5-5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 1268.67 mg (871-1910 mg) [sources: Moore_2019_2]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 310.66 g/m2 (235.29-380.23 g/m2) [sources: Moore_2019_2]
leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.36 g/g (0.27-0.41 g/g) [sources: Moore_2019_2]
leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): convolute (1); flat (3); involute (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (3) [sources: Moore_2019_2; Osborne_2014; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (4); herb (3); tussock (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): perennial (8) [sources: Cheal_2017; Jordan_2001; Moore_2019_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Simpson_2021; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (2); erect (1); rhizomatous (1); tufted (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Moore_2019_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1) [sources: White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (1) [sources: White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nynnnnnnyyyy (1); yynnnnnnnnny (1); yyynnnnnyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014; NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (1); root_crown (1) [sources: Moore_2019_2; Simpson_2021]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.4 mg (0.11-0.99 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1]
seed_length (numerical): 2.98 mm (2.46-3.5 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; Jordan_2001]
seed_width (numerical): 1.66 mm (1.31-2 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; Jordan_2001]
seed_shape (categorical): fusiform (1) [sources: ANBG_2019]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 1.15 m (0.2-2 m) [sources: GrassBase_2014; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Moore_2019_2	12	55	N. A. Moore, J. S. Camac, and J. W. Morgan. “Effects of drought and fire on resprouting capacity of 52 temperate Australian perennial native grasses”. New Phytologist 221.3 (2018), pp. 1424-1433. doi: 10.1111/nph.15480.
Kew_2019_6	1	21	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_1	1	20	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.
ANBG_2019	5	10	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
ABRS_2023	7	9	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Jordan_2001	7	7	G. J. Jordan. “An investigation of long-distance dispersal based on species native to both Tasmania and New Zealand”. Australian Journal of Botany 49.3 (2001), pp. 333-340. doi: 10.1071/bt00024.
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/.
RBGV_2023	7	7	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
GrassBase_2014	3	6	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.
Cheal_2017	5	5	D. 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.
SAH_2023	5	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/.
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/.
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.
ABRS_2022	3	3	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
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/.
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.
NHNSW_2014_2	2	2	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
eFLOWER_Dun_2022	2	2	L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
NHNSW_2014	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/search/simple.htm.
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.