AusTraits

Phyllanthus virgatus

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Phyllanthaceae

Taxonomy: Phyllanthus virgatus G.Forst.

Synonyms: 10 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Diasperus beckleri (Müll.Arg.) Kuntze (taxonomic synonym)
  • Diasperus conterminus (Müll.Arg.) Kuntze (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus beckleri Müll.Arg. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus conterminus Müll.Arg. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus eboracensis S.Moore (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus filicaulis Benth. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus simplex var. filicaulis (Benth.) Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus sp. (Betanga E.J.Thompson+ JER41) (taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus sp. B (pro parte taxonomic synonym)
  • Phyllanthus sp. B Kimberley Flora (T.E.H.Aplin et al. 809) WA Herbarium (pro parte taxonomic synonym)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Clarke_2009 (2), Clarke_2015 (3), Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (17), NSWFRD_2014 (7), NTH_2022 (3), NTH_2023 (22), Nano_2011 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_1998 (1), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Wright_2000 (4), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (12). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 61 traits from 118 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): fire_killed (1); resprouts (4) [sources: Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; White_2020]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (1) [sources: Clarke_2015]
flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): monoecious (2) [sources: NHNSW_2022; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 2 mm (2-2 mm) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 2.88 mm (1.5-4 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 2.88 mm (1.5-4 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; Sjostrom_2006; Wright_2000]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (1); grey (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 13.25 mm (5-22 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 4 mm (2-7 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 0.1 cm (0.1-0.1 cm) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_elliptical (2); narrowly_lanceolate (1); oblong (2); ovate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): cuneate (1); rounded (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Munroe_2019; White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (4); shrub (1); subshrub (4) [sources: Clarke_2009; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (3); woody_base (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (3); prostrate (1); sprawling (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): endozoochory (1); hydrochory (1); zoochory (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); invertebrates (1); vertebrates (1); water (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nyyyyyyynnnn (1); yynnnnnnyyyy (2); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; WAH_1998; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (2) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_stem_buds (4) [sources: Clarke_2009; Clarke_2015; Crowley_2007; Nano_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_length (numerical): 1.75 mm (1.5-2 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): polyhedral (1) [sources: NTH_2023]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NTH_20231822D. 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/.
White_20202020M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
NHNSW_20231317N. 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/.
eFLOWER_Dun_20221212L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
NSWFRD_201477B. 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.
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.
WAH_2022_244Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wright_200044I. 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.
Clarke_201533P. J. Clarke, M. J. Lawes, B. P. Murphy, J. Russell-Smith, C. E. Nano, R. Bradstock, N. J. Enright, J. B. Fontaine, C. R. Gosper, I. Radford, J. J. Midgley, and R. M. Gunton. “A synthesis of postfire recovery traits of woody plants in Australian ecosystems”. Science of The Total Environment 534 (2015), pp. 31-42. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.002.
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.
NTH_202233D. 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/.
Clarke_200922P. J. Clarke, K. J. E. Knox, M. L. Campbell, and L. M. Copeland. “Post-fire recovery of woody plants in the New England Tableland Bioregion”. Cunninghamia 11 (2009), pp. 221-239. doi: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/4907.
Crowley_200722G. Crowley, M. Gardener, and M. Marrinan. Tropical savannas fire response database. 2007. url: [www.landmanager.org.au](www.landmanager.org.au).
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.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.
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.
Munroe_201911S. E. M. Munroe, F. A. McInerney, J. Andrae, N. Welti, G. R. Guerin, E. Leitch, T. Hall, S. Szarvas, R. Atkins, S. Caddy-Retalic, and B. Sparrow. “The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species Surveyed in Australia's National Terrestrial Monitoring Network”. Scientific Data 8 (2021), p. 97. doi: 10.1038/s41597-021-00877-z.
WAH_199811Western Australian Herbarium. FloraBase: The Western Australian flora. 1998. url: http://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.