Microlaena stipoides var. stipoides

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Microlaena stipoides (Labill.) R.Br. var. stipoides

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Ehrharta stipoides Labill. var. stipoides (nomenclatural synonym)
Microlaena stipoides var. micrantha Domin (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, SA, Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (4), ANBG_2019 (4), Catford_2014 (10), Cheal_2017 (5), Doherty_2021 (2), GrassBase_2014 (6), Metcalfe_2020_2 (15), Morgan_2011_1 (5), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (4), NSWFRD_2014 (11), Osborne_2014 (1), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (11), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Williams_2005 (5). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 51 traits from 124 records in 21 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 (4) [sources: Cheal_2017; Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
fire_time_from_fire_to_flowering (numerical): 12 mo (12-12 mo) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]

flower morphology

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

fruit morphology

fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (5) [sources: ABRS_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_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): 314.88 mm2 (176-453.75 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 123.75 mm (20-250 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; RBGV_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 6.5 mm (1-12 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; RBGV_2023]
leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 39.4 mg (39.4-39.4 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 223.62 g/m2 (223.62-223.62 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014]
leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Osborne_2014; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); graminoid_not_tussock (1); herb (5); tussock (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Morgan_2011_1; Williams_2005]
life_history (categorical): perennial (9) [sources: ABRS_2022; Catford_2014; Cheal_2017; Morgan_2011_1; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023; Williams_2005]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (1); mat-forming (1); prostrate (1); rhizomatous (3) [sources: Catford_2014; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1); wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); epizoochory (1); undefined (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Morgan_2011_1; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): yyynnnnnnyyy (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Williams_2005]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (5) [sources: Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; Morgan_2011_1; White_2020; Williams_2005]
clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): belowground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_2]
bud_bank_location (categorical): bud-bearing_root (1); rhizome (1) [sources: Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 4.13 mg (2.19-6.39 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019; Catford_2014; Williams_2005]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.68 m (0.3-1 m) [sources: GrassBase_2014; RBGV_2023; WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	20	20	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_2020_2	15	15	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NSWFRD_2014	10	11	B. 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_2023	9	11	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Catford_2014	10	10	J. A. Catford, W. K. Morris, P. A. Vesk, C. J. Gippel, and B. J. Downes. “Species and environmental characteristics point to flow regulation and drought as drivers of riparian plant invasion”. Diversity and Distributions 20 (2014), pp. 1084-1096. doi: 10.1111/ddi.12225.
GrassBase_2014	3	6	W. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, and K. H. &. H. Williamson. GrassBase - The online world grass flora. 2006. url: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
Cheal_2017	5	5	D. Cheal. Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets. Fire and adaptive management, report no. 84. Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, 2010.
Morgan_2011_1	5	5	J. Morgan. “Unpublished data: Grassy woodland traits, La Trobe University”. 2011.
Williams_2005	5	5	N. S. G. Williams, J. W. Morgan, M. J. McDonnell, and M. A. McCarthy. “Plant traits and local extinctions in natural grasslands along an urban-rural gradient”. Journal of Ecology 93.6 (2005), pp. 1203-1213. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2005.01039.x.
ABRS_2023	4	4	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
ANBG_2019	1	4	Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
NHNSW_2023	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.. 2023. url: https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
RBGV_2022	4	4	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_2	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_2	3	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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.
NHNSW_2022	3	3	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/.
Doherty_2021	2	2	M. Doherty. “Fire Severity and Plant Community Dynamics in the Australian Alps, Southeastern New South Wales”. PhD. Australian National University, 2021. url: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/224564.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Osborne_2014	1	1	C. Osborne, A. Salomaa, T. Kluyver, V. Visser, E. Kellogg, O. Morrone, M. Vorontsova, W. Clayton, and D. Simpson. “A global database of C4 photosynthesis in grasses”. New Phytologist 204 (2014), pp. 441-446. doi: 10.1111/nph.12942.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.