Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus

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Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus (R.Br.) Hook.f.

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)

Chaetospora sphaerocephala R.Br. (nomenclatural synonym)
Gymnoschoenus adustus Nees (taxonomic synonym)
Mesomelaena sphaerocephala (R.Br.) Benth. (nomenclatural synonym)
Schoenus sphaerocephalus (R.Br.) Poir. (nomenclatural synonym)
Xyris laevis Nees ex Benth. (taxonomic synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ANBG_2019 (2), Draper_2023 (3), Jordan_2001 (7), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kubiak_2009 (1), Mokany_2015 (3), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (11), NSWFRD_2014 (6), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (6), SAH_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (18), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (4). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 47 traits from 88 records in 20 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 (3) [sources: Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
fire_time_from_fire_to_flowering (numerical): 12 mo (12-12 mo) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

flower morphology

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

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 2.88 mm (2.5-3.5 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 1.7 mm (1.6-1.8 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 1.7 mm (1.6-1.8 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): nut (4) [sources: 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]
fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2); grey (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 981.75 mm2 (981.75-981.75 mm2) [sources: Mokany_2015]
leaf_length (numerical): 500 mm (500-500 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 1.67 mm (1-2.5 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): sheathing (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (3); herb (2); tussock (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): perennial (5) [sources: Jordan_2001; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_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); wind (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): barochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnyyyy (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 2.03 mg (0.79-3.38 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1; Mokany_2015]
seed_length (numerical): 4 mm (4-4 mm) [sources: Jordan_2001]
seed_width (numerical): 2.5 mm (2.5-2.5 mm) [sources: Jordan_2001]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.75 m (0.5-1 m) [sources: Mokany_2015; SAH_2014]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
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.
NHNSW_2023	7	11	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/.
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.
NSWFRD_2014	6	6	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_2023	5	6	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_2023	4	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.
eFLOWER_Dun_2022	3	4	L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
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.
Mokany_2015	3	3	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.
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/.
ANBG_2019	1	2	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
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.
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kubiak_2009	1	1	P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
SAH_2014	1	1	J. P. Jessop and H. R. Toelken. Flora of South Australia, 4th edition, 4 vols. Electronic version curated by J. Kellermann, State Herbarium of South Australia.. Government Printer, Adelaide, 1986.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.