AusTraits

Rumex acetosella

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Polygonaceae

Taxonomy: Rumex acetosella L.

Synonyms: 5 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acetosella vulgaris Fourr. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Acetosella vulgaris subsp. pyrenaica (Pourr. ex Lapeyr.) Á.Löve (taxonomic synonym)
  • Rumex acetosella subsp. pyrenaicus (Pourr. ex Lapeyr.) Akeroyd (taxonomic synonym)
  • Rumex acetosella var. α vulgaris W.D.J.Koch (taxonomic synonym)
  • Rumex pyrenaicus Pourr. ex Lapeyr. (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Acetosa angiocarpa (Murb.) Á.Löve (misapplied)
  • Acetosella angiocarpa (Murb.) Á.Löve (misapplied)
  • Rumex angiocarpus Murb. (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Burrows_2008_2 (3), Carey_2003 (3), Catford_2014 (3), Cheal_2017 (8), Doherty_2021 (2), Firn_2019 (115), Kubiak_2009 (2), Mokany_2008 (43), Mokany_2015 (2), Morgan_2011_1 (5), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (2), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (16), NSWFRD_2014 (4), OReillyNugent_2018 (22), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (15), SAH_2014 (4), SAH_2022 (5), SAH_2023 (7), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Standish_2019 (6), Stephens_2021 (2), Tsakalos_2020 (16), Venn_2011 (3), Vesk_2007 (6), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (2), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wright_2000 (5). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 69 traits from 323 records in 33 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); partial_resprouting (1); resprouts (4) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Carey_2003; Cheal_2017; Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014; Standish_2019]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (1); post_fire_recruitment_absent (1) [sources: Carey_2003; Cheal_2017]
  • fire_time_from_fire_to_flowering (numerical): 12 mo (12-12 mo) [sources: NSWFRD_2014]
flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): dioecious (1); hermaphrodite (1) [sources: SAH_2022; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 1.25 mm (1-1.5 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (1); nut (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (2); indehiscent (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 848.43 mm2 (49.1-1649.34 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014; Mokany_2008; Mokany_2015; Venn_2011]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 38.96 mm (10-100 mm) [sources: Mokany_2008; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 14.83 mm (5-35 mm) [sources: Mokany_2008; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2014]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 30.83 mg (1.7-59.8 mg) [sources: Catford_2014; Mokany_2008]
  • petiole_length (numerical): 1 cm (0.5-1.5 cm) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 65.45 g/m2 (31.23-507.93 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014; Firn_2019; Mokany_2008; OReillyNugent_2018; Vesk_2007]
  • leaf_mass_fraction (numerical): 0.36 g/g (0.1-0.58 g/g) [sources: Mokany_2008]
  • leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.19 g/g (0.18-0.2 g/g) [sources: Mokany_2008]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): linear (1); narrowly_ovate (1); obovate (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): attenuate (1); hastate (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (2); unlobed (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): not_glaucous (2) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_inclination_angle (numerical): 52.67 deg (32-70 deg) [sources: Mokany_2008]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (3) [sources: Mokany_2008; Munroe_2019; Tsakalos_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (10) [sources: Firn_2019; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; Vesk_2007; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1); therophyte (1) [sources: Mokany_2008; Morgan_2011_1]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (1); perennial (9); short_lived_perennial (1) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Cheal_2017; Morgan_2011_1; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (7) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (1); erect (4); rhizomatous (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: Mokany_2008; Standish_2019]
  • root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): undefined (1) [sources: Morgan_2011_1]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnyyyn (1); nnnnnnnnyyyy (1); ynnnyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: Stephens_2021; Tsakalos_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): soil_seedbank (1) [sources: Standish_2019]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): long_persistent (1) [sources: Cheal_2017]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (2) [sources: Morgan_2011_1; NHNSW_2014_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: RBGV_2023]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): basal_buds (1); bud-bearing_root (2) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Carey_2003; Doherty_2021]
nutrient and stable isotope
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.47 mg (0.47-0.47 mg) [sources: Venn_2011]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Firn_20196115J. Firn, J. M. McGree, E. Harvey, H. Flores-Moreno, M. Schuetz, Y. M. Buckley, E. T. Borer, E. W. Seabloom, K. J. L. Pierre, A. M. MacDougall, S. M. Prober, C. J. Stevens, L. L. Sullivan, E. Porter, E. Ladouceur, C. Allen, K. H. Moromizato, J. W. Morgan, W. S. Harpole, Y. Hautier, N. Eisenhauer, J. P. Wright, P. B. Adler, C. A. Arnillas, J. D. Bakker, L. Biederman, A. A. D. Broadbent, C. S. Brown, M. N. Bugalho, M. C. Caldeira, E. E. Cleland, A. Ebeling, P. A. Fay, N. Hagenah, A. R. Kleinhesselink, R. Mitchell, J. L. Moore, C. Nogueira, P. L. Peri, C. Roscher, M. D. Smith, P. D. Wragg, and A. C. Risch. “Leaf nutrients, not specific leaf area, are consistent indicators of elevated nutrient inputs”. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3.3 (2019), pp. 400-406. doi: 10.1038/s41559-018-0790-1.
Mokany_20081943K. Mokany and J. Ash. “Are traits measured on pot grown plants representative of those in natural communities?”. Journal of Vegetation Science 19 (2008), pp. 119-126. doi: 10.3170/2007-8-18340.
OReillyNugent_2018222A. O'Reilly-Nugent, E. Wandrag, C. Catford, B. Gruber, D. Driscoll, and R. Duncan. “Measuring competitive impact: Joint-species modelling of invaded plant communities”. Journal of Ecology 108 (2018), pp. 449-459.
NHNSW_20231116N. 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/.
Tsakalos_20201516J. L. Tsakalos, M. Renton, F. Riviera, E. J. Veneklaas, M. P. Dobrowolski, and L. Mucina. “Trait-based formal definition of plant functional types and functional communities in the multi-species and multi-traits context”. Ecological Complexity 40 (2019), p. 100787. doi: 10.1016/j.ecocom.2019.100787.
RBGV_20231215VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Cheal_201788D. 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.
SAH_202367S. 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/.
Standish_201966R. Standish. “Unpublished data: Jarrah forest, Murdoch University”. 2019.
Vesk_200726P. Vesk. “Unpublished data: Leaf traits for flora of Falls Creek Victoria, University of Melbourne”. 2007.
Morgan_2011_155J. Morgan. “Unpublished data: Grassy woodland traits, La Trobe University”. 2011.
SAH_202255S. 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/.
Wright_200055I. 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.
NSWFRD_201444B. 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.
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/.
Burrows_2008_233N. D. Burrows, G. Wardell-Johnson, and B. Ward. “Post-fire juvenile period of plants in south-west Australia forests and implications for fire management”. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 91 (2008), pp. 163-174. ISSN: 0035922X. url: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/19156 (visited on 03/27/2025).
Carey_200333A. C. &. M. E. &. P. H. &. M. L. &. T. M. &. P. O. &. S. S. &. D. S. &. N. Webb. Wildfires in the ACT 2003: Report on Initial Impacts on Natural Ecosystems. Technical Report No. 17. Environment ACT, 2003. url: https://www.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2539593/17-wildfires-in-the-act-report-on-initial-impacts-on-natural-ecosystems-2003.pdf.
Catford_201433J. 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.
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/.
Venn_201133S. E. Venn, K. Green, C. M. Pickering, and J. W. Morgan. “Using plant functional traits to explain community composition across a strong environmental filter in Australian alpine snowpatches”. Plant Ecology 212 (2011), pp. 1491-1499. doi: 10.1007/s11258-011-9923-1.
WAH_2022_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Doherty_202122M. Doherty. “Fire Severity and Plant Community Dynamics in the Australian Alps, Southeastern New South Wales”. PhD. Australian National University, 2021. url: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/224564.
Kubiak_200922P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
Mokany_201522K. Mokany, J. J. Thomson, A. J. J. Lynch, G. J. Jordan, and S. Ferrier. “Linking changes in community composition and function under climate change”. Ecological Applications 25.8 (2015), pp. 2132-2141. doi: 10.1890/14-2384.1.
NHNSW_2014_222Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Stephens_202112R. Stephens. “Unpublished data: Flowering time data from TERN plots, Macquarie University.”. 2021.
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.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.