Maireana villosa

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Chenopodiaceae

Taxonomy: Maireana villosa (Lindl.) Paul G.Wilson

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)

Kochia tomentosa var. lindleyana Domin (nomenclatural synonym)
Kochia villosa Lindl. (nomenclatural synonym)
Kochia villosa Lindl. var. villosa (nomenclatural synonym)

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

Kochia pubescens Moq. (doubtful pro parte 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 (4), ABRS_2023 (8), ANBG_2019 (5), Crowley_2007 (1), Draper_2023 (3), Fonseca_2000 (5), Kew_2019_1 (1), Leishman_1992 (7), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (5), NHNSW_2023 (4), NTH_2022 (3), NTH_2023 (11), Nano_2011 (1), RussellSmith_2012 (4), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (8), Sjostrom_2006 (3), Sweedman_2006 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 49 traits from 114 records in 25 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): fire_killed (1); partial_resprouting (1); resprouts (2) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; RussellSmith_2012; White_2020]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): red_brown (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
sex_type (categorical): dioecious (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022]

fruit morphology

fruit_width (numerical): 8 mm (6-10 mm) [sources: NTH_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): nutlet (1); utricle (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 11.5 mm2 (11-12 mm2) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Leishman_1992]
leaf_length (numerical): 11.75 mm (5-25 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 1.42 mm (0.8-2.5 mm) [sources: Fonseca_2000; NTH_2023]
leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 2 mg (2-2 mg) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 126.58 g/m2 (126.58-126.58 g/m2) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
leaf_shape (categorical): linear (3); narrowly_oblanceolate (1); narrowly_oblong (2); narrowly_obovate (2); oblong (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; SAH_2023]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Munroe_2019; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (1); shrub (7); subshrub (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Fonseca_2000; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (1); woody (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (1); open (3); spreading (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
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): anemochory (2); barochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): passive (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnyyyyyyyyn (1) [sources: White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (2) [sources: RussellSmith_2012; White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 3.01 mg (1.02-4.02 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992]
seed_length (numerical): 3.01 mm (3.01-3.01 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019]
seed_width (numerical): 2.44 mm (2.44-2.44 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019]
seed_shape (categorical): ovoid_elongated (1) [sources: ANBG_2019]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.54 m (0.15-0.8 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	20	20	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NTH_2023	8	11	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	7	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.
SAH_2023	7	8	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	7	7	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.
ANBG_2019	5	5	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
Fonseca_2000	5	5	C. R. Fonseca, J. M. Overton, B. Collins, and M. Westoby. “Shifts in trait-combinations along rainfall and phosphorus gradients”. Journal of Ecology 88 (2000), pp. 964-977. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2745.2000.00506.x.
NHNSW_2022	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.. 2022. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
ABRS_2022	4	4	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2014_2	4	4	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_2023	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.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RussellSmith_2012	4	4	J. Russell-Smith, M. R. Gardener, C. Brock, K. Brennan, C. P. Yates, and B. Grace. “Fire persistence traits can be used to predict vegetation response to changing fire regimes at expansive landscape scales - an Australian example”. Journal of Biogeography 39 (2012), pp. 1657-1668. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02714.x.
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/.
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/.
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.
NTH_2022	3	3	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/.
Sjostrom_2006	3	3	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.
Sweedman_2006	1	3	L. Sweedman and D. Merritt. Australian Seeds: A Guide to Their Collection, Identification, and Biology. CSIRO Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780643094079.
WAH_2023_2	1	2	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Crowley_2007	1	1	G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. 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.
Nano_2011	1	1	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.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.