AusTraits

Polygala japonica

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Polygalaceae

Taxonomy: Polygala japonica Houtt.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Polygala veronicaefolia Chodat (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygala veronicea F.Muell. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygala veronicifolia A.D.Chapm. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Polygala sibirica L. (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (18), ANBG_2019 (1), McGlone_2015 (6), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (12), NSWFRD_2014 (6), Pickup_2021 (10), RBGV_2022 (2), RBGV_2023 (12), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Soliveres_2012 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 46 traits from 108 records in 16 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
  • flower_colour (categorical): blue_purple (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 5.83 mm (3-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 6.75 mm (3-8 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): capsule (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_length (numerical): 14.5 mm (5-20 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 7.12 mm (3-10 mm) [sources: McGlone_2015; ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): elliptical (3); ovate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (8); subshrub (4) [sources: ABRS_2022; McGlone_2015; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; RBGV_2022; Soliveres_2012; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (3); woody_base (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (1); prostrate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2022]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1); myrmecochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Soliveres_2012; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): ants (1); invertebrates (1); wind (1) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Soliveres_2012; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnyyy (2); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NSWFRD_2014; White_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): none (2) [sources: Pickup_2021]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1); transient (3) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Pickup_2021; White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 15 mg (15-15 mg) [sources: ANBG_2019]
  • seed_length (numerical): 2.88 mm (2.5-3 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • seed_width (numerical): 2 mm (2-2 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • seed_shape (categorical): ovoid (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20202020M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
ABRS_20231318Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2023912N. 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_20231012VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Pickup_2021510M. Pickup and T. McDonald. Bushfire impacts — A national model for assessing local landscape restoration priorities. Project Phoenix Report. Greening Australia, 2021. url: https://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1.02R2.pdf.
McGlone_201566M. S. McGlone, S. J. Richardson, G. J. Jordan, and G. L. Perry. “Is there a `suboptimal' woody species height? A response to Scheffer et al.”. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 30.1 (2015), pp. 4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.007.
NSWFRD_201466B. 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_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://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.
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.
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/.
Soliveres_201233S. Soliveres, D. J. Eldridge, F. Hemmings, and F. T. Maestre. “Nurse plant effects on plant species richness in drylands: The role of grazing, rainfall and species specificity”. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 14 (2012), pp. 402-410. doi: 10.1016/j.ppees.2012.09.003.
RBGV_202222VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
ANBG_201911Australian National Botanic Gardens. The National Seed Bank. 2018. url: http://www.anbg.gov.au/gardens/living/seedbank/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.