Helminthostachys zeylanica

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Family Ophioglossaceae

Taxonomy: Helminthostachys zeylanica (L.) Hook.

Synonyms: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Osmunda zeylanica L. (nomenclatural synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, Qld

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (8), Crowley_2007 (2), Metcalfe_2009 (17), NTH_2022 (1), NTH_2023 (10), Nano_2011 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 29 traits from 56 records in 11 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: Crowley_2007; Metcalfe_2009; Nano_2011]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 4200 mm2 (4200-4200 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
leaf_length (numerical): 137.5 mm (50-230 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 24 mm (6-40 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (1); lanceolate (2); narrowly_elliptical (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2); toothed_crenate (2); toothed_serrate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
plant_growth_form (categorical): fern (3); herb (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2009; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): chamaephyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
plant_growth_substrate (categorical): terrestrial (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): rhizomatous (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
dispersers (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
seedbank_location (categorical): none (1) [sources: Nano_2011]
serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (1) [sources: Nano_2011]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
bud_bank_location (categorical): fleshy_underground_organ (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0 mg (0-0 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
dispersal_unit (categorical): spore (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.5 m (0.4-0.6 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Metcalfe_2009	17	17	E. 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.
NTH_2023	6	10	D. 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/.
ABRS_2023	6	8	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Nano_2011	4	4	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.
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/.
WAH_2023_2	3	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. 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.
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).
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
NTH_2022	1	1	D. 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/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.