AusTraits

Phragmites karka

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Phragmites karka (Retz.) Trin. ex Steud.

Synonyms: 4 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Arundo karka Retz. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Arundo vallatoria L. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phragmites vallatoria Veldkamp (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Phragmites vallatorius Veldkamp (nomenclatural synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (8), ATRP_2020 (2), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), GrassBase_2014 (7), Metcalfe_2020_2 (21), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (6), Nano_2011 (2), Osborne_2014 (1), SAH_2014 (5), SAH_2022 (2), SAH_2023 (3), Simpson_2021 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (5), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 33 traits from 86 records in 20 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 (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.23 mm (1.1-1.5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; NTH_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; 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]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): black (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 7500 mm2 (7500-7500 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 452.5 mm (120-800 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 23.12 mm (10-40 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_lanceolate (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): toothed_dentate (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Osborne_2014]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (5); herb (1); tussock (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Metcalfe_2020_2; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; ATRP_2020; NTH_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • plant_growth_substrate (categorical): aquatic (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NTH_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): dense (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): self (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (1); hydrochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1) [sources: Draper_2023]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): belowground_clonal (1); rhizome (1) [sources: ATRP_2020; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (2); rhizome (1) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; Simpson_2021]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 1.1 mm (1.1-1.1 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 6 m (1-10 m) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; NTH_2023; SAH_2014; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_21921D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
ABRS_202368Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
GrassBase_201447W. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, and K. H. &. H. Williamson. GrassBase - The online world grass flora. 2006. url: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
NTH_202366D. 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/.
SAH_201435J. 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.
WAH_2022_255Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.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/.
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.
ABRS_202233Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.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.
SAH_202333S. 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_2023_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
ATRP_202022F. A. Zich, B. P. Hyland, T. Whiffin, and R. A. Kerrigan. Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, Edition 8. 2020. url: https://apps.lucidcentral.org/rainforest/text/intro/index.html.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
Nano_201122C. E. M. Nano and P. J. Clarke. “How do drought and fire influence the patterns of resprouting in Australian deserts?”. Plant Ecology 212 (2011), pp. 2095-2110. doi: 10.1007/s11258-011-9988-x.
SAH_202222S. 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/.
Simpson_202122K. J. Simpson, E. C. Jardine, S. Archibald, E. J. Forrestel, C. E. R. Lehmann, G. H. Thomas, and C. P. Osborne. “Resprouting grasses are associated with less frequent fire than seeders”. New Phytologist 230 (2021), pp. 832-844. doi: 10.1111/nph.17069.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Osborne_201411C. 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_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.