Megathyrsus maximus

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Family Poaceae

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

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Panicum maximum Jacq. (basionym)
Urochloa maxima (Jacq.) R.D.Webster (nomenclatural synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Metcalfe_2020_2 (21), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (8), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (2), Simpson_2021 (3), WAH_2022_2 (2), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 29 traits from 50 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 (1) [sources: Simpson_2021]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

fruit morphology

fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 6201 mm2 (6201-6201 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 530 mm (60-1000 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_width (numerical): 15.5 mm (4-35 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (3); herb (2); tussock (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1); therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): annual (1); perennial (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; Simpson_2021; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): aboveground_clonal (1); belowground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
bud_bank_location (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: Simpson_2021]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.1 mg (1.1-1.1 mg) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 3.12 m (2-4.5 m) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Metcalfe_2020_2	19	21	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_2023	7	8	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/.
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/.
NTH_2022	4	4	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/.
Simpson_2021	3	3	K. J. Simpson, E. C. Jardine, S. Archibald, E. J. Forrestel, C. E. R. Lehmann, G. H. Thomas, and C. P. Osborne. “Resprouting grasses are associated with less frequent fire than seeders”. New Phytologist 230 (2021), pp. 832-844. doi: 10.1111/nph.17069.
NTH_2023	2	2	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/.
WAH_2022_2	2	2	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_2	2	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.
NHNSW_2014_2	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.