AusTraits

Malvastrum americanum

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Malvaceae

Taxonomy: Malvastrum americanum (L.) Torr.

Synonyms: 8 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Malva americana L. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Malva brachystachya F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Malva ovata Cav. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Malva spicata L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Malva timoriensis DC. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Malvastrum americanum (L.) Torr. var. americanum (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Malvastrum americanum var. stellatum S.R.Hill (taxonomic synonym)
  • Malvastrum spicatum (L.) A.Gray (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA, Qld (native and naturalised), NSW (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ANBG_2019 (5), Clarke_2015 (6), Cooper_2013 (9), Crowley_2007 (2), Dong_2017 (8), Jurado_1991 (5), Jurado_1992 (3), Kew_2019_1 (9), Kew_2019_5 (1), Kew_2019_6 (13), Leishman_1992 (7), Moles_2003 (4), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (16), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (31), Nano_2011 (2), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (7), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (24). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 69 traits from 180 records in 27 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 (3); partial_resprouting (1); resprouts (1) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment_absent (2) [sources: Clarke_2015]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 3.45 mm (2-5 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 4.21 mm (1.7-6 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 4.06 mm (1.7-6 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (1); mericarp (3); schizocarp (2) [sources: Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 350 mm2 (350-350 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 41.25 mm (10-82 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 28.25 mm (5-63 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 1.53 cm (0.2-3.5 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 140.37 g/m2 (140.37-140.37 g/m2) [sources: Dong_2017]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (2); ovate (2); trullate (1); widely_elliptical (1); widely_ovate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): cordate (1); rounded (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): toothed (1); toothed_crenate (1); toothed_serrate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Munroe_2019]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (9); shrub (3) [sources: Cooper_2013; Jurado_1991; Leishman_1992; Moles_2003; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (3); perennial (6); short_lived_perennial (2) [sources: Leishman_1992; Moles_2003; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5); woody (1); woody_base (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Dong_2017]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); barochory (1) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_5]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnyyyyynnnnn (1) [sources: Cooper_2013]
  • seed_viability (numerical): 0.29 {count}/{count} (0.29-0.29 {count}/{count}) [sources: Moles_2003]
  • storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (2); none (4) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
nutrient and stable isotope
  • leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 18.28 mg/g (18.28-18.28 mg/g) [sources: Dong_2017]
  • leaf_delta13C (numerical): -28.95 {delta}[ppth] (-28.95--28.95 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Dong_2017]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.61 mg (1.16-1.8 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992]
  • seed_length (numerical): 2.05 mm (1.9-2.15 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; NTH_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 2 mm (1.6-2.26 mm) [sources: ANBG_2019; NTH_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): reniform (2) [sources: ANBG_2019; NTH_2023]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.8 m (0.5-1.3 m) [sources: Cooper_2013; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NTH_20231931D. 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/.
eFLOWER_Dun_20221924L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
NHNSW_20231116N. 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/.
Kew_2019_6113Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Cooper_201379W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
Kew_2019_119Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Dong_201788N. Dong, I. C. Prentice, B. J. Evans, S. Caddy-Retalic, A. J. Lowe, and I. J. Wright. “Leaf nitrogen from first principles: field evidence for adaptive variation with climate”. Biogeosciences 14.2 (2017), pp. 481-495. doi: 10.5194/bg-14-481-2017.
Leishman_199277M. 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.
SAH_202367S. 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/.
Clarke_201536P. J. Clarke, M. J. Lawes, B. P. Murphy, J. Russell-Smith, C. E. Nano, R. Bradstock, N. J. Enright, J. B. Fontaine, C. R. Gosper, I. Radford, J. J. Midgley, and R. M. Gunton. “A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems”. Science of The Total Environment 534 (2015), pp. 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.002.
ANBG_201955Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
Jurado_199155E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
Moles_200344A. T. Moles, D. I. Warton, and M. Westoby. “Seed size and survival in the soil in arid Australia”. Austral Ecology 28.5 (2003), pp. 575-585. doi: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.2003.01314.x.
NHNSW_202244N. 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/.
NTH_202244D. 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/.
SAH_202244S. 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_200644A. 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_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Jurado_199213E. Jurado and M. Westoby. “Germination biology of selected central Australian plants”. Austral Ecology 17.3 (1992), pp. 341-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1992.tb00816.x.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Nano_201122C. 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_2023_212Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_511Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Munroe_201911S. 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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.