Mesomelaena pseudostygia

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Cyperaceae

Taxonomy: Mesomelaena pseudostygia (Kük.) K.L.Wilson

Synonyms: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Mesomelaena stygia var. pseudostygia Kük. (nomenclatural synonym)

Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Chaetospora stygia R.Br. (misapplied)
Mesomelaena stygia (R.Br.) Nees (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA

Profiles: APC, Flora of Australia, ALA, iNaturalist, Florabase, ATRP

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (10), Burrows_2008_2 (3), Burrows_2020 (3), Detombeur_2021 (63), Detombeur_2025 (56), Funk_2016 (56), Hayes_2014 (418), Laliberte_2012 (9), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Tsakalos_2020 (16), Tsakalos_2022 (3), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 74 traits from 653 records in 17 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 (3) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Tsakalos_2020]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 3.5 mm (3-4 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
fruit_width (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.5-1.8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
fruit_height (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.5-1.8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): nut (1); nutlet (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit_colour (categorical): white (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]

leaf morphology

leaf_area (numerical): 234 mm2 (234-234 mm2) [sources: Laliberte_2012]
leaf_length (numerical): 20 mm (20-20 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 398.79 g/m2 (261.54-619.86 g/m2) [sources: Detombeur_2025; Funk_2016; Laliberte_2012]
leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.51 g/g (0.49-0.55 g/g) [sources: Detombeur_2025; Laliberte_2012]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (5); herb (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; Funk_2016; Laliberte_2012; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Funk_2016]
life_history (categorical): perennial (7) [sources: ABRS_2022; Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Funk_2016; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: ABRS_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Funk_2016; Hayes_2014]
root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1); dauciform_root (1); proteoid_root (1) [sources: Funk_2016; Hayes_2014; Laliberte_2012]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnyyynnnnnn (1); nyyyyyynnnnn (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020; WAH_1998]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2022]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2022]
bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (2); rhizome_non_woody (1) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Tsakalos_2022]

nutrient and stable isotope

leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 6.91 mg/g (0.81-9.34 mg/g) [sources: Detombeur_2025; Funk_2016; Hayes_2014; Laliberte_2012]
leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 0.14 mg/g (0.08-0.35 mg/g) [sources: Detombeur_2021; Detombeur_2025; Funk_2016; Hayes_2014]
leaf_delta13C (numerical): -28.42 {delta}[ppth] (-28.9--28.11 {delta}[ppth]) [sources: Detombeur_2025; Laliberte_2012]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.48 m (0.2-0.75 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
Hayes_2014	26	418	P. Hayes, B. L. Turner, H. Lambers, and E. Laliberte. “Foliar nutrient concentrations and resorption efficiency in plants of contrasting nutrient-acquisition strategies along a 2-million-year dune chronosequence”. Journal of Ecology 102.2 (2013), pp. 396-410. doi: 10.1111/1365-2745.12196.
Detombeur_2021	9	63	F. de Tombeur, E. Laliberte, H. Lambers, M. Faucon, G. Zemunik, B. L. Turner, J. Cornelis, and G. Mahy. “A shift from phenol to silica-based leaf defenses during long-term soil and ecosystem development”. Ecology Letters 24.5 (2021), pp. 984-995. doi: 10.1111/ele.13713.
Detombeur_2025	12	56	F. D. Tombeur, L. Plouzeau, J. Shaw, M. J. Hodson, K. Ranathunge, J. Kotula, P. E. Hayes, M. Tremblay, S. Coq, M. Stein, R. Nakamura, I. J. Wright, H. Lambers, C. Violle, and P. L. Clode. “Anatomical and Trait Analyses Reveal a Silicon-Carbon Trade-Off in the Epidermis of Sedges”. Plant, Cell & Environment 48.3 (2024), pp. 2396-2410. ISSN: 1365-3040. doi: 10.1111/pce.15307.
Funk_2016	16	56	J. L. Funk, R. J. Standish, W. D. Stock, and F. Valladares. “Plant functional traits of dominant native and invasive species in mediterranean-climate ecosystems”. Ecology 97.1 (2016), pp. 75-83. doi: 10.1890/15-0974.1.
Tsakalos_2020	15	16	J. 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.
ABRS_2023	7	10	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Laliberte_2012	9	9	E. Laliberte, B. L. Turner, T. Costes, S. J. Pearse, K. Wyrwoll, G. Zemunik, and H. Lambers. “Experimental assessment of nutrient limitation along a 2-million-year dune chronosequence in the south-western Australia biodiversity hotspot”. Journal of Ecology 100 (2012), pp. 631-642. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2012.01962.x.
Sjostrom_2006	4	4	A. 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_2022	3	3	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Burrows_2008_2	3	3	N. D. Burrows, G. Wardell-Johnson, and B. Ward. “Post-fire juvenile period of plants in south-west Australia forests and implications for fire management”. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 91 (2008), pp. 163-174. ISSN: 0035922X. url: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19156 (visited on 03/27/2025).
Burrows_2020	3	3	N. Burrows. Data from 'Plant Ecological Attributes' theme, NatureMap, DBCA, WA. 2020.
Tsakalos_2022	3	3	J. L. Tsakalos, G. Ottaviani, S. Chelli, A. Rea, S. Elder, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Plant clonality in a soil-impoverished open ecosystem: insights from southwest Australian shrublands”. Annals of Botany 130.7 (2022), pp. 981-990. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcac131.
WAH_2022_2	3	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_2	1	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.
WAH_1998	1	1	Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.