AusTraits

Melia azedarach

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Meliaceae

Taxonomy: Melia azedarach L.

Synonyms: 8 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Azedarach sempervirens var. australasica (A.Juss.) Kuntze (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia australasica A.Juss. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia australis Sweet (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia australis Sweet ex G.Don (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia azedarach var. australasica (A.Juss.) C.DC. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia azederach Medik. (orthographic variant)
  • Melia composita Willd. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Melia dubia Cav. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Melia composita Willd. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (native and naturalised), ChI (naturalised), NT (native and naturalised), SA (doubtfully naturalised), Qld, NSW (native and naturalised), NI (naturalised), Vic (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (21), Butler_2004 (5), Clarke_2015 (3), Cooper_2013 (15), Crowley_2007 (2), Gosper_2004 (2), Gross_2005 (4), Grubb_1996 (3), Hughes_1992 (5), Ilic_2000 (2), Kanowski_2000 (22), Kew_2019_1 (13), Kew_2019_2 (1), Kew_2019_4 (1), Kew_2019_5 (1), Kew_2019_6 (5), Kooyman_2011 (13), Kubiak_2009 (1), Leishman_2007 (7), Mesaglio_2022 (4), Metcalfe_2009 (18), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (22), NSWFRD_2014 (10), NTH_2022 (3), NTH_2023 (10), Nano_2011 (2), Pickup_2021 (5), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (24), Roderick_2002 (12), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (11), Sams_2017 (8), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_1998 (2), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wright_2000 (10), Yang_2023 (2), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (31). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 117 traits from 331 records in 46 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): partial_resprouting (1); resprouts (7) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Kubiak_2009; Metcalfe_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Pickup_2021; Yang_2023]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (2) [sources: Clarke_2015; Pickup_2021]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): monoecious (2) [sources: Gross_2005; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 21.4 mm (10-40 mm) [sources: Gosper_2004; ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 12.92 mm (8-20 mm) [sources: Gosper_2004; ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 12 mm (8-20 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): drupe (9) [sources: ABRS_2023; Cooper_2013; Gross_2005; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sams_2017; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1); fleshy (5) [sources: Cooper_2013; Gross_2005; Metcalfe_2009; Sams_2017; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (6) [sources: Cooper_2013; Gross_2005; Metcalfe_2009; NTH_2023; Sams_2017; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2); orange (1); yellow (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 1010.11 mm2 (781-1260 mm2) [sources: Kanowski_2000; Metcalfe_2009; Roderick_2002]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 199.38 mm (20-800 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 19.1 mm (9-32 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 49.4 mg (35.9-64 mg) [sources: Roderick_2002]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 17.67 cm (5-40 cm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 49.07 g/m2 (41.29-56.85 g/m2) [sources: Kanowski_2000; Leishman_2007]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (4); lanceolate (3); oblong (2); ovate (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): oblique (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3); toothed (1); toothed_serrate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): unlobed (1) [sources: Kooyman_2011]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; Kooyman_2011; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_arrangement (categorical): spiral (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): tree (17) [sources: ABRS_2022; Butler_2004; Cooper_2013; Grubb_1996; Hughes_1992; Kooyman_2011; Leishman_2007; Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; NTH_2022; Pickup_2021; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): phanerophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (9) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2009; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): woody (8) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • leaf_phenology (categorical): deciduous (2) [sources: Kooyman_2011; WAH_1998]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • root_structure (categorical): mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): bee (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (3); zoochory (3) [sources: Butler_2004; Grubb_1996; Hughes_1992; Kew_2019_5; Metcalfe_2009; NSWFRD_2014]
  • dispersers (categorical): bats (1); birds (2); flying_vertebrates (1); vertebrates (1) [sources: Butler_2004; Cooper_2013; NSWFRD_2014; Sams_2017]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnynn (1); nnnnnnnnnyyy (1); nnnnnnnnyynn (2); nnnnnnnnyyyn (3); nnnnnnnyyyyy (1); nnnynnnnnnnn (1) [sources: Cooper_2013; Hughes_1992; Mesaglio_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; WAH_1998]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): none (1) [sources: Pickup_2021]
  • serotiny (categorical): not_serotinous (1) [sources: Hughes_1992]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2009]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1); basal_stem_buds (3); bud-bearing_root (3); rhizome (2) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Yang_2023]
nutrient and stable isotope
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 180.56 mg (14-1208.9 mg) [sources: Grubb_1996; Kew_2019_1]
  • seed_length (numerical): 5.5 mm (3.5-7 mm) [sources: Cooper_2013; Kooyman_2011; RBGV_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 4.25 mm (4-5 mm) [sources: Butler_2004; Kooyman_2011]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ovoid_elongated (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
stem morphology
  • wood_density (numerical): 0.39 mg/mm3 (0.38-0.4 mg/mm3) [sources: Ilic_2000; Kooyman_2011; Metcalfe_2009; Sams_2017]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
eFLOWER_Dun_20222531L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
RBGV_20231624VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Kanowski_20002222J. Kanowski. “Ecological determinants of the distribution and abundance of the folivorous marsupials endemic to the rainforests of the Atherton uplands, north Queensland.”. PhD. James Cook University, Townsville, 1999.
NHNSW_20231422N. 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/.
ABRS_20231421Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Metcalfe_20091818E. 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.
Cooper_20131215W. Cooper and W. T. Cooper. Australian rainforest fruits. CSIRO Publishing, 2013, p. 272.
Kew_2019_1113Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kooyman_2011913R. Kooyman, M. Rossetto, W. Cornwell, and M. Westoby. “Phylogenetic tests of community assembly across regional to continental scales in tropical and subtropical rain forests”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20 (2011), pp. 707-716. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00641.x.
Roderick_2002412M. L. Roderick and M. J. Cochrane. “On the conservative nature of the leaf mass-area relationship”. Annals of Botany 89.5 (2002), pp. 537-542. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcf100.
SAH_2023911S. 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/.
NSWFRD_2014910B. Kenny, C. Orscheg, E. Tasker, M. A. Gill, and R. Bradstock. NSW Flora Fire Response Database, v2.1. database. NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, 2014.
NTH_2023810D. 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/.
Wright_20001010I. J. Wright, H. T. Clifford, R. Kidson, M. L. Reed, B. L. Rice, and M. Westoby. “A survey of seed and seedling characters in 1744 Australian dicotyledon species: Cross-species trait correlations and correlated trait-shifts within evolutionary lineages”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69 (2000), pp. 521-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01222.x.
Sams_201778M. A. Sams, H. R. Lai, S. P. Bonser, P. A. Vesk, R. M. Kooyman, D. J. Metcalfe, J. W. Morgan, and M. M. Mayfield. “Landscape context explains changes in the functional diversity of regenerating forests better than climate or species richness”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 26.10 (2017), pp. 1165-1176. doi: 10.1111/geb.12627.
Leishman_200777M. R. Leishman, T. Haslehurst, A. Ares, and Z. Baruch. “Leaf trait relationships of native and invasive plants: community- and global-scale comparisons”. New Phytologist 176.3 (2007), pp. 635-643. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02189.x.
Butler_200455D. W. Butler, R. J. Green, D. Lamb, W. J. F. Mcdonald, and P. I. Forster. “Biogeography of seed-dispersal syndromes, life-forms and seed sizes among woody rain-forest plants in Australia's subtropics”. Journal of Biogeography 34.10 (2007), pp. 1736-1750. ISSN: 1365-2699. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01734.x.
Hughes_199255L. Hughes and B. Rice. “Unpublished data: Traits data for 643 species, Macquarie University”. 1992.
Kew_2019_615Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Pickup_202155M. Pickup and T. McDonald. Bushfire impacts — A national model for assessing local landscape restoration priorities. Project Phoenix Report. Greening Australia, 2021. url: https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1.02R2.pdf.
Gross_200544C. L. Gross. “A comparison of the sexual systems in the trees from the Australian tropics with other tropical biomes-more monoecy but why?”. American Journal of Botany 92.6 (2005), pp. 907-919. doi: 10.3732/ajb.92.6.907.
Mesaglio_202214T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.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.
ABRS_202233Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Clarke_201533P. 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.
Grubb_199633P. J. Grubb and D. J. Metcalfe. “Adaptation and inertia in the Australian tropical lowland rain-forest flora: Contradictory trends in intergeneric and intrageneric comparisons of seed size in relation to light demand”. Functional Ecology 10 (1996), pp. 512-520. doi: 10.2307/2389944.
NHNSW_202233N. 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_202233D. 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/.
RBGV_202233VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202233S. 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_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Gosper_200422C. R. Gosper. “Fruit characteristics of invasive bitou bush, Chrysanthemoides monilifera (Asteraceae), and a comparison with co-occurring native plant species”. Australian Journal of Botany 52.2 (2004), pp. 223-230. doi: 10.1071/bt03046.
Ilic_200012J. Ilic, D. Boland, M. McDonald, D. G, and P. Blakemore. Woody density phase 1 - State of knowledge. National Carbon Accounting System. Technical Report 18. Tech. rep. Australian Greenhouse Office, Canberra, Australia, 2000.
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_199822Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
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.
Yang_202322S. Yang. “Unpublished data: Fire response traits scored from national and state floras and the taxonomic literature, University of New South Wales”. 2023.
Kew_2019_211Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_411Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Oil content data from Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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/.
Kubiak_200911P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.