AusTraits

Megathyrsus maximus var. maximus

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B.K.Simon & S.W.L.Jacobs var. maximus

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Panicum maximum Jacq. var. maximum (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Urochloa maxima (Jacq.) R.D.Webster var. maxima (nomenclatural synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Metcalfe_2009 (15), Metcalfe_2020_2 (38), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (7), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 28 traits from 67 records in 6 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
flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2); indehiscent (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 13799.25 mm2 (5247-21000 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 530 mm (60-1000 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 16.83 mm (4-35 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (1); herb (2); tussock (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (3); therophyte (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): rhizomatous (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1); non_mycorrhizal (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (2); barochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): belowground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1 mg (1-1 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_21738D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
Metcalfe_20091515E. 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.
NHNSW_202367N. 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/.
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/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.