AusTraits

Eclipta prostrata

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Family Asteraceae

Taxonomy: Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.

Synonyms: 9 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cotula alba (L.) L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta 'Gove entity' (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta alba var. erecta (L.) Miq. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta erecta L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta sp. Gove (J.L.Egan 2784) NT Herbarium (taxonomic synonym)
  • Eclipta sp. Perth (S.Lloyd s.n. 3/4/1998) WA Herbarium (taxonomic synonym)
  • Verbesina alba L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Verbesina prostrata L. (nomenclatural synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (5), ABRS_2023 (16), ATRP_2020 (1), Cooper_2013 (9), Kew_2019_1 (15), Kew_2019_6 (30), Metcalfe_2009 (19), NHNSW_2014_2 (3), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (10), NTH_2022 (8), NTH_2023 (27), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (13), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (1), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wright_2000 (10), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (8). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 52 traits from 194 records in 21 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): white_cream (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
  • sex_type (categorical): gynomonoecious (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 2.67 mm (2-3 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 1.08 mm (0.8-1.5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (7); nut (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (4) [sources: Cooper_2013; Metcalfe_2009; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): black (1); brown (3) [sources: NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 1650 mm2 (1650-1650 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 55.5 mm (20-100 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 18.5 mm (3-70 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (4); lanceolate (1); narrowly_elliptical (2); narrowly_ovate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3); toothed (1); toothed_dentate (3); toothed_serrate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (10) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; Cooper_2013; Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (7); biennial (1); perennial (4) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • plant_growth_substrate (categorical): semiaquatic (1) [sources: ABRS_2022]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (5); erect (5); prostrate (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): bee (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): barochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nyyyyyyyyynn (1); yyyyynnnyyyy (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.96 mg (0.18-3.38 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Metcalfe_2009]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Kew_2019_6130Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
NTH_20231027D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Metcalfe_20091919E. Laliberte, J. A. Wells, F. DeClerck, D. J. Metcalfe, C. P. Catterall, C. Queiroz, I. Aubin, S. P. Bonser, Y. Ding, J. M. Fraterrigo, S. McNamara, J. W. Morgan, D. S. Merlos, P. A. Vesk, and M. M. Mayfield. “Land-use intensification reduces functional redundancy and response diversity in plant communities”. Ecology Letters 13.1 (2010), pp. 76-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01403.x.
ABRS_20231216Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Kew_2019_1115Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
RBGV_20231113VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2023810N. 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/.
Wright_20001010I. J. Wright, H. T. Clifford, R. Kidson, M. L. Reed, B. L. Rice, and M. Westoby. “A survey of seed and seedling characters in 1744 Australian dicotyledon species: Cross-species trait correlations and correlated trait-shifts within evolutionary lineages”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69 (2000), pp. 521-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01222.x.
Cooper_201389W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
NTH_202248D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
eFLOWER_Dun_202268L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
ABRS_202255Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.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/.
Sjostrom_200644A. 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_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2014_233Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
ATRP_202011F. 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.
WAH_2023_211Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.