AusTraits

Mesembryanthemum crystallinum

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Aizoaceae

Taxonomy: Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Cryophytum crystallinum (L.) N.E.Br. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Gasoul crystallinum (L.) Rothm. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Mesembrianthemum crystallinum J.M.Black (orthographic variant)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), Vic (naturalised), Tas (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (16), Dwyer_2017 (11), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (9), NHNSW_2024 (9), NSWFRD_2014 (2), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (15), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (12), Stephens_2021 (3), Stephens_2023 (1), Tsakalos_2020 (16), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 36 traits from 119 records in 19 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
  • flower_colour (categorical): pink (1); white_cream (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 8.5 mm (6-11 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 6.5 mm (5-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 91.2 mm (7-150 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 65.04 mm (2-100 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 19.8 g/m2 (18.36-20.17 g/m2) [sources: Dwyer_2017]
  • leaf_type (categorical): broadleaf (1) [sources: NHNSW_2024]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): cordate (1); obovate (1); ovate (4); spathulate (3); terete (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): cordate (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin_posture (categorical): undulate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2); undulate (1) [sources: SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1); opposite (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): cladode (1); leaf (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2024; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3-cam (1); cam (1) [sources: Munroe_2019; Tsakalos_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (6); shrub (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (5); biennial (3); perennial (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6); woody (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • plant_succulence (categorical): succulent (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): dense (1); prostrate (6); rosette (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • pollination_system (categorical): insect (1) [sources: Stephens_2023]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyyyy (1); ynnnnnnnyyyy (1); ynnnnnnyyyyy (1); yynnnnnnyyyy (1) [sources: Stephens_2021; Tsakalos_2020]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.1 mg (0.1-0.1 mg) [sources: Dwyer_2017]
  • seed_length (numerical): 0.8 mm (0.8-0.8 mm) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): hemispheric_flattened (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
ABRS_20231216Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Tsakalos_20201516J. L. Tsakalos, M. Renton, F. Riviera, E. J. Veneklaas, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Trait-based formal definition of plant functional types and functional communities in the multi-species and multi-traits context”. Ecological Complexity 40 (2019), p. 100787. doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2019.100787.
RBGV_20231215VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_2023912S. 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/.
Dwyer_2017311J. M. Dwyer and D. C. Laughlin. “Constraints on trait combinations explain climatic drivers of biodiversity: The importance of trait covariance in community assembly”. Ecology Letters 20.7 (2017), pp. 872-882. doi: 10.1111/ele.12781.
NHNSW_2014_279Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202479N. H. of New South Wales. The Plant Information Network System of The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust Version 2.0.. accessed on December, 2023.. 2024. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
ABRS_202244Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.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/.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Stephens_202113R. Stephens. “Unpublished data: Flowering time data from TERN plots, Macquarie University.”. 2021.
WAH_2022_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_201422B. 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.
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.
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.
Stephens_202311R. E. Stephens, R. V. Gallagher, L. Dun, W. Cornwell, and H. Sauquet. “Insect pollination for most of angiosperm evolutionary history”. New Phytologist 240.2 (2023), pp. 880-891. ISSN: 1469-8137. doi: 10.1111/nph.18993.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.