AusTraits

Paspalum distichum

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Paspalum distichum L.

Synonyms: 4 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Digitaria disticha (L.) Fiori & Paol. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Digitaria paspalodes Michx. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Paspalum paspalodes (Michx.) Scribn. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Paspalum paspaloides Scribn. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW, LHI, NI (naturalised), ACT (naturalised), Vic (naturalised), Tas (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Catford_2014 (10), Kew_2019_3 (4), Kew_2019_6 (1), Metcalfe_2020_2 (19), Moore_2019_2 (55), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (6), RBGV_2022 (5), RBGV_2023 (8), SAH_2014 (1), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_1 (5), WAH_2022_2 (3), WAH_2023_1 (2), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (38), Yang_2023 (2). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 54 traits from 185 records in 22 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 (15); resprouts (6) [sources: Moore_2019_2; White_2020; Yang_2023]
flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (7) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; WAH_2023_1; WAH_2023_2]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 662.46 mm2 (296.07-1618.49 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; Moore_2019_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 160 mm (20-220 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 5.83 mm (2-7 mm) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 87.33 mg (11-201 mg) [sources: Catford_2014; Moore_2019_2]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 78.15 g/m2 (37.15-124.84 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014; Moore_2019_2]
  • leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.24 g/g (0.22-0.26 g/g) [sources: Moore_2019_2]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_arrangement (categorical): distichous (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (5) [sources: Kew_2019_3; Metcalfe_2020_2; Moore_2019_2; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (7); graminoid_not_tussock (2); herb (4); tussock (1) [sources: Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (8) [sources: Catford_2014; Moore_2019_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • plant_growth_substrate (categorical): semiaquatic (1) [sources: RBGV_2022]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): creeping (1); rhizomatous (3); stoloniferous (3) [sources: Catford_2014; Moore_2019_2; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_1]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: White_2020]
  • root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (2); parasitic (1) [sources: WAH_2022_1; White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (2); wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): birds (2) [sources: White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): transient (2) [sources: White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (5) [sources: Catford_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): aboveground_clonal (1); belowground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_1]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): rhizome (2) [sources: Moore_2019_2; Yang_2023]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.51 mg (1.51-1.51 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Moore_2019_21255N. A. Moore, J. S. Camac, and J. W. Morgan. “Effects of drought and fire on resprouting capacity of 52 temperate Australian perennial native grasses”. New Phytologist 221.3 (2018), pp. 1424-1433. doi: 10.1111/nph.15480.
White_20201938M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_2020_21819D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
Catford_20141010J. 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.
RBGV_202388VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202366N. 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_202255VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_202345S. 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_155Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Kew_2019_344Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Salt and water tolerance data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NHNSW_202244N. 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/.
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.
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/.
WAH_2023_122Western 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_611Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.