AusTraits

Persicaria lapathifolia

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Family Polygonaceae

Taxonomy: Persicaria lapathifolia (L.) Delarbre

Synonyms: 13 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Persicaria lanigera (R.Br.) Soják (taxonomic synonym)
  • Persicaria lapathifolia subsp. glandulosa (R.Br.) Soják (taxonomic synonym)
  • Persicaria lapathifolia subsp. lanata (Roxb.) Soják (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum adenophorum Spreng. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum glandulosum R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum lanatum Roxb. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum lanigerum R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum lapathifolium L. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Polygonum lapathifolium L. subsp. lapathifolium (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Polygonum lapathifolium L. var. lapathifolium (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Polygonum lapathifolium subsp. lanigerum (R.Br.) Danser (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum lapathifolium var. lanigerum (R.Br.) C.Moore (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum nodosum Pers. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Persicaria attenuata (R.Br.) Soják x Polygonum glabrum Willd. (misapplied)
  • Persicaria glabra (Willd.) M.Gómez (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT, SA (naturalised), Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic (uncertain origin), Tas (naturalised)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Britton_1994 (2), Catford_2014 (9), Draper_2023 (3), Kew_2019_1 (6), Kew_2019_6 (5), Kubiak_2009 (2), Leishman_1992 (7), Mesaglio_2022 (2), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (19), NSWFRD_2014 (3), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (13), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (15), SAH_2014 (4), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (51), Williams_2011 (11), Wright_2000 (10). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 60 traits from 198 records in 27 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
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.81 mm (1-2 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 1.72 mm (1.2-2 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 1.45 mm (1.2-1.7 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (1); nut (4); utricle (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (3) [sources: NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 6120.9 mm2 (4241.8-8000 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014; Leishman_1992]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 110 mm (60-210 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 24.12 mm (8-45 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 189.5 mg (189.5-189.5 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 1.18 cm (0.5-2.2 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 44.68 g/m2 (44.68-44.68 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (3); narrowly_elliptical (1); narrowly_ovate (1); ovate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (3); c4 (1) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (13) [sources: Catford_2014; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (5); biennial (3); perennial (3) [sources: Catford_2014; Leishman_1992; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (4); erect (4); stoloniferous (1) [sources: Catford_2014; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (4) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (3) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (4) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • pollination_system (categorical): biotic_unspecialised (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (1); epizoochory (3); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); birds (3) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnynnnn (1); nynnnnnnnnnn (1); yyyyynnnyyyy (3) [sources: Mesaglio_2022; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (3) [sources: White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (4); vegetative (1) [sources: Catford_2014; NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1) [sources: Leishman_1992]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.22 mg (0.61-1.86 mg) [sources: Catford_2014; Kew_2019_1; Leishman_1992; Williams_2011]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20201751M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NHNSW_20231219N. 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_20231215VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
NTH_20231013D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
Williams_20111111R. P. Duncan, S. E. Clemants, R. T. Corlett, A. K. Hahs, M. A. McCarthy, M. J. McDonnell, M. W. Schwartz, K. Thompson, P. A. Vesk, and N. S. G. Williams. “Plant traits and extinction in urban areas: a meta-analysis of 11 cities”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20.4 (2011), pp. 509-519. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00633.x.
Wright_20001010I. J. Wright, H. T. Clifford, R. Kidson, M. L. Reed, B. L. Rice, and M. Westoby. “A survey of seed and seedling characters in 1744 Australian dicotyledon species: Cross-species trait correlations and correlated trait-shifts within evolutionary lineages”. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69 (2000), pp. 521-547. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2000.tb01222.x.
Catford_201499J. 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.
Leishman_199277M. R. Leishman and M. Westoby. “Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits-Evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands”. Journal of Ecology 80 (1992), pp. 417-424. doi: 10.2307/2260687.
Kew_2019_116Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_615Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Germination data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
SAH_202355S. 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/.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
NTH_202244D. of Land Resource Management and N. T. of Australia. Northern Territory Flora Online. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: http://eflora.nt.gov.au/.
RBGV_202244VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
SAH_201424J. 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.
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.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Draper_202333J. T. Draper, S. Delean, J. G. Conran, P. Weinstein, and B. S. Simpson. “Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia”. Australian Journal of Botany unknown.unknown (2023), p. unknown. doi: 10.1071/BT22110.
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/.
NSWFRD_201433B. 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.
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/.
Britton_199412D. L. Britton and M. A. Brock. “Seasonal germination from wetland seed banks”. Marine and Freshwater Research 45.8 (1994), pp. 1445-1457. doi: 10.1071/mf9941445.
Kubiak_200922P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Mesaglio_202212T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.