AusTraits

Melinis repens

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Melinis repens (Willd.) Zizka

Synonyms: 8 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Melinis repens (Willd.) Zizka subsp. repens (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Panicum teneriffae var. rosea F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
  • Panicum teneriffae var. roseum (Nees) F.M.Bailey (taxonomic synonym)
  • Rhynchelytrum repens (Willd.) C.E.Hubb. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Rhynchelytrum roseum (Nees) Stapf & C.E.Hubb. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Rhynchelytrum roseum Bews (taxonomic synonym)
  • Saccharum repens Willd. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Tricholaena rosea Nees (taxonomic synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Crowley_2007 (2), Fonseca_2000 (5), Jurado_1991 (6), Jurado_1992 (3), Kubiak_2009 (3), Metcalfe_2020_2 (16), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (7), NSWFRD_2014 (4), Nano_2011 (2), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (5), SAH_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (6), Simpson_2021 (2), WAH_2022_1 (4), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_1 (1), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Yang_2023 (2). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 38 traits from 91 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); resprouts (4) [sources: Crowley_2007; Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Yang_2023]
  • post_fire_flowering (categorical): fire_enhanced_flowering (1) [sources: Yang_2023]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): pink (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (5) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_1; 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): 452.8 mm2 (64.4-700 mm2) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 102.5 mm (30-300 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 4.23 mm (2-10 mm) [sources: Fonseca_2000; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 6 mg (6-6 mg) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 90.09 g/m2 (90.09-90.09 g/m2) [sources: Fonseca_2000]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): conduplicate (1); flat (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Munroe_2019]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); herb (5); tussock (2) [sources: Fonseca_2000; Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1); therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (7); perennial (7); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1]
  • root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (2); root_crown (1) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; Simpson_2021]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.34 mg (0.21-0.47 mg) [sources: Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 1.15 m (0.3-1.5 m) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2014; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_21616D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
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/.
Jurado_199166E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
SAH_202346S. 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/.
Fonseca_200055C. 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.
RBGV_202355VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_201444B. 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.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_144Western 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.
Kubiak_200933P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
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/.
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_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_223Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. 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).
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.
Simpson_202122K. 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.
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.
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.
SAH_201411J. P. Jessop and H. R. Toelken. Flora of South Australia, 4th edition, 4 vols. Electronic version curated by J. Kellermann, State Herbarium of South Australia.. Government Printer, Adelaide, 1986.
WAH_2023_111Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.