AusTraits

Polygonum aviculare

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Family Polygonaceae

Taxonomy: Polygonum aviculare L.

Synonyms: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Polygonum aviculare var. diffusum Meisn. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum heterophyllum Lindm. (taxonomic synonym)
  • Polygonum monspeliense Thiéb.-Bern. ex Pers. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), ACT (naturalised), Vic (naturalised), 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 (11), Cheal_2017 (7), Mesaglio_2022 (3), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (17), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (11), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (12), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (9), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Standish_2019 (6), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 42 traits from 107 records in 19 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): 2.48 mm (1.6-3 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.5-1.8 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.5-1.8 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (1); nut (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: NTH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): black (1); brown (2); red (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 103.12 mm2 (103.12-103.12 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 29.25 mm (6-50 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 8.25 mm (1-18 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 4.8 mg (4.8-4.8 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 46.21 g/m2 (46.21-46.21 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (3); narrowly_elliptical (3); narrowly_ovate (1); oblong (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • leaf_margin_posture (categorical): flat (1); undulate (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; NTH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
life history
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (8) [sources: Catford_2014; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (7); perennial (1) [sources: Catford_2014; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; 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 (3); mat-forming (1); prostrate (5); sprawling (1); stoloniferous (1) [sources: Catford_2014; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
  • root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): barochory (1) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnynn (1); nnnnnnnnynnn (1); nyyyynnnnnnn (1) [sources: Mesaglio_2022]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1) [sources: Cheal_2017]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Catford_2014]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 1.3 mg (1.3-1.3 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.06 m (0.02-0.1 m) [sources: WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
NHNSW_20231217N. 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_2023912VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Catford_20141111J. 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.
NTH_2023811D. 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_202379S. 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/.
Cheal_201777D. Cheal. Growth stages and tolerable fire intervals for Victoria's native vegetation data sets. Fire and adaptive management, report no. 84. Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, 2010.
Standish_201966R. Standish. “Unpublished data: Jarrah forest, Murdoch University”. 2019.
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/.
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/.
Mesaglio_202213T. Mesaglio. “Unpublished data: Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney”. 2022. doi: 10.32942/X29886.
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/.
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.
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
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.