Gahnia grandis

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Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Gahnia grandis (Labill.) S.T.Blake

Synonyms: 13 (APC 2026-07-30)

Cladium psittacorum (Labill.) F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia leucocarpa R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia leucosperma Nees (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psilocaulon Hook.f. ex Boeckeler (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum Labill. (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum Labill. f. psittacorum (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum Labill. var. psittacorum (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum f. leucosperma Benl (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum f. psilocaulon (Hook.f. ex Boeckeler) Benl (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum var. psilocaulon (Hook.f. ex Boeckeler) Kük. (taxonomic synonym)
Gahnia psittacorum var. typica Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Mariscus psittacorum (Labill.) Kuntze (taxonomic synonym)
Scleria grandis Labill. (nomenclatural synonym)

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

Gahnia melanocarpa R.Br. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): NSW, Vic, Tas

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Jordan_2001 (7), Kew_2019_1 (2), Mokany_2015 (2), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (10), NSWFRD_2014 (4), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (10), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Smith_1996 (69), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 58 traits from 142 records in 14 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: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): red_brown (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1); hermaphrodite (1); monoecious (1) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 3.75 mm (3-4.5 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 1.55 mm (1.2-1.9 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 1.55 mm (1.2-1.9 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): nut (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Jordan_2001; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2); orange (1); red (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 5596.86 mm2 (2170.73-17820 mm2) [sources: Mokany_2015; Smith_1996]
leaf_length (numerical): 2052 mm (1670-2420 mm) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_width (numerical): 5.85 mm (3.5-11 mm) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 1418.79 mg (1418.79-1418.79 mg) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 157.24 g/m2 (157.24-157.24 g/m2) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.57 g/g (0.57-0.57 g/g) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_water_content_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.76 g/g (0.76-0.76 g/g) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_shape (categorical): linear (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_inclination_angle (numerical): 40.5 deg (10-80 deg) [sources: Smith_1996]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (2); herb (1); tussock (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): perennial (4) [sources: Jordan_2001; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (3) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (2) [sources: 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): endozoochory (1) [sources: White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): birds (1) [sources: White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnyyyy (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 7.14 mg/g (7.14-7.14 mg/g) [sources: Smith_1996]
leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.46 mg/g (0.46-0.46 mg/g) [sources: Smith_1996]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 6.75 mg (6.43-7.07 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1]
seed_length (numerical): 4 mm (4-4 mm) [sources: Jordan_2001]
seed_width (numerical): 2.8 mm (2.8-2.8 mm) [sources: Jordan_2001]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 3.5 m (3.5-3.5 m) [sources: Mokany_2015]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Smith_1996	16	69	B. Smith. “Community-level convergence and community structure of temperate Nothofagus forests”. PhD. University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, 1996. url: http://web.nateko.lu.se/personal/benjamin.smith/thesis/thesis.html.
White_2020	19	19	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NHNSW_2023	7	10	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	10	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.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_2014_2	4	4	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://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/.
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.
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.
Kew_2019_1	1	2	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Mokany_2015	2	2	K. Mokany, J. J. Thomson, A. J. J. Lynch, G. J. Jordan, and S. Ferrier. “Linking changes in community composition and function under climate change”. Ecological Applications 25.8 (2015), pp. 2132-2141. doi: 10.1890/14-2384.1.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.