Eriachne helmsii

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Eriachne helmsii (Domin) W.Hartley

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Eriachne mucronata var. helmsii Domin (nomenclatural synonym)
Eriachne mucronata var. villiculmis Domin (taxonomic synonym)

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

Eriachne mucronata R.Br. (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (10), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), GrassBase_2014 (8), Islam_1999_2 (48), Jurado_1991 (5), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kew_2019_5 (1), Leishman_1992 (6), Metcalfe_2020_2 (15), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (5), Nano_2011 (2), Osborne_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (7), Simpson_2021 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wenk_2023_2 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 40 traits from 144 records in 26 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 (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]

flower morphology

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

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 2.98 mm (2.7-3.2 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; 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): 179.58 mm2 (138.75-200 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992; Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 90 mm (25-160 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; SAH_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 2.25 mm (2-3 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014]
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 (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Munroe_2019; Osborne_2014]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); herb (3); tussock (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): perennial (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; SAH_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): caespitose (2); decumbent (1); erect (2); spreading (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): self (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (4) [sources: Draper_2023; Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_5; Metcalfe_2020_2]
dispersers (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
flowering_time (categorical): yyyyynnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]
bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (2); root_crown (1) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; Simpson_2021]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 7.34 mg/g (5.9-11.2 mg/g) [sources: Islam_1999_2]
leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.8 mg/g (0.6-1.4 mg/g) [sources: Islam_1999_2]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.64 mg (1.49-1.79 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992]
seed_length (numerical): 3.1 mm (2.7-3.5 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.7 m (0.4-1 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Islam_1999_2	6	48	M. Islam and M. Adams. “Mineral content and nutritive value of native grasses and the response to added phosphorus in a Pilbara rangeland”. Tropical Grasslands 33 (1999), pp. 193-200.
Metcalfe_2020_2	15	15	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
ABRS_2023	7	10	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
GrassBase_2014	4	8	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.
SAH_2023	5	7	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/.
Leishman_1992	6	6	M. R. Leishman and M. Westoby. “Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits-Evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands”. Journal of Ecology 80 (1992), pp. 417-424. doi: 10.2307/2260687.
Jurado_1991	5	5	E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
NHNSW_2023	5	5	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/.
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/.
SAH_2022	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/.
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.
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.
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/.
Crowley_2007	2	2	G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Nano_2011	2	2	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.
Simpson_2021	2	2	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.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_5	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the 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	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.
Wenk_2023_2	1	1	E. Wenk and D. Coleman. “Unpublished: Rain and flood-related flowering cues for Australia's flora, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2023.