AusTraits

Sonchus oleraceus

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Asteraceae

Taxonomy: Sonchus oleraceus L.

Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Sonchus tenerrimus L. (pro parte misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), ChI (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld (naturalised), NSW (naturalised), LHI (naturalised), NI (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: ABRS_2022 (3), ABRS_2023 (11), Burrows_2008_2 (4), Burrows_2020 (3), Catford_2014 (3), Cheal_2017 (14), Crowley_2007 (2), Doherty_2021 (3), Dwyer_2017 (9), Firn_2019 (31), Funk_2016 (122), Kubiak_2009 (6), Leishman_1992 (7), Mesaglio_2022 (3), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (5), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (15), NSWFRD_2014 (3), Nano_2011 (2), RBGV_2022 (3), RBGV_2023 (17), SAH_2022 (6), SAH_2023 (37), Schmidt_1993 (1), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Standish_2019 (9), Stephens_2021 (6), Tsakalos_2020 (17), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (1), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wright_2000 (6), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (8). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 78 traits from 375 records in 36 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 (9); partial_resprouting (1) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Cheal_2017; Crowley_2007; Doherty_2021; Kubiak_2009; NSWFRD_2014; Nano_2011; Standish_2019]
  • post_fire_recruitment (categorical): post_fire_recruitment (2) [sources: Cheal_2017]
flower morphology
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
  • sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 2.95 mm (2.2-4 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 0.75 mm (0.5-1 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): achene (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Sjostrom_2006; Tsakalos_2020]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_colour (categorical): brown (3); red (1); yellow (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 2059.25 mm2 (1600-2518.5 mm2) [sources: Catford_2014; Leishman_1992]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 175 mm (30-350 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 66.5 mm (12-120 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_dry_mass (numerical): 88.6 mg (88.6-88.6 mg) [sources: Catford_2014]
  • leaf_mass_per_area (numerical): 53.88 g/m2 (18.83-342.69 g/m2) [sources: Catford_2014; Dwyer_2017; Firn_2019; Funk_2016]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): cordate (1); lanceolate (3); linear (1); oblanceolate (3); triangular (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): acute (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (3); toothed (2); toothed_dentate (3) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (6); lobed_deep (1); unlobed (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_glaucousness (categorical): glaucous (2); not_glaucous (2) [sources: RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_hairs_adult_leaves (categorical): glabrous (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (2) [sources: Munroe_2019; Tsakalos_2020]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (14) [sources: ABRS_2022; Firn_2019; Funk_2016; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (2) [sources: Funk_2016]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (16); biennial (4); perennial (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Cheal_2017; Funk_2016; Leishman_1992; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Standish_2019; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (9); woody_base (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (2); rosette (1) [sources: SAH_2023; Tsakalos_2020; WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (3) [sources: Funk_2016; Standish_2019]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (4); proteoid_root (1) [sources: Funk_2016; Schmidt_1993; Standish_2019; Tsakalos_2020]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: Tsakalos_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnnnn (1); nnnnnnnnyyyn (1); nnnnnyyyyynn (1); ynnnnnnnnnnn (1); yyyyyyyyyyyy (7) [sources: Mesaglio_2022; NHNSW_2014_2; Stephens_2021; Tsakalos_2020]
  • seedbank_location (categorical): none (3); soil_seedbank (2) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Burrows_2020; Doherty_2021; NSWFRD_2014; Standish_2019]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): widely_dispersed (2) [sources: Cheal_2017]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): no_storage_organ (1); rhizome (2) [sources: Leishman_1992; SAH_2023]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (4) [sources: Burrows_2008_2; Crowley_2007; Doherty_2021; Nano_2011]
nutrient and stable isotope
  • leaf_N_per_dry_mass (numerical): 27.55 mg/g (20.3-39.19 mg/g) [sources: Firn_2019; Funk_2016; Standish_2019]
  • leaf_P_per_dry_mass (numerical): 2.17 mg/g (1.31-6.2 mg/g) [sources: Firn_2019; Funk_2016; Standish_2019]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.28 mg (0.25-0.35 mg) [sources: Dwyer_2017; Leishman_1992; Standish_2019]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Funk_201617122J. L. Funk, R. J. Standish, W. D. Stock, and F. Valladares. “Plant functional traits of dominant native and invasive species in mediterranean-climate ecosystems”. Ecology 97.1 (2016), pp. 75-83. doi: 10.1890/15-0974.1.
SAH_20231537S. 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/.
Firn_2019631J. 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.
RBGV_20231117VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Tsakalos_20201617J. 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.
NHNSW_20231115N. 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/.
Cheal_2017714D. 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.
ABRS_2023911Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
Dwyer_201739J. M. Dwyer and D. C. Laughlin. “Constraints on trait combinations explain climatic drivers of biodiversity: The importance of trait covariance in community assembly”. Ecology Letters 20.7 (2017), pp. 872-882. doi: 10.1111/ele.12781.
Standish_201999R. Standish. “Unpublished data: Jarrah forest, Murdoch University”. 2019.
eFLOWER_Dun_202278L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
Leishman_199277M. R. Leishman and M. Westoby. “Classifying plants into groups on the basis of associations of individual traits-Evidence from Australian semi-arid woodlands”. Journal of Ecology 80 (1992), pp. 417-424. doi: 10.2307/2260687.
Kubiak_200956P. J. Kubiak. “Fire responses of bushland plants after the January 1994 wildfires in northern Sydney”. Cunninghamia 11.1 (2009), pp. 131-165.
SAH_202236S. 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/.
Stephens_202116R. Stephens. “Unpublished data: Flowering time data from TERN plots, Macquarie University.”. 2021.
Wright_200066I. 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.
NHNSW_2014_255Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
Burrows_2008_244N. 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).
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/.
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.
Burrows_202033N. Burrows. Data from 'Plant Ecological Attributes' theme, NatureMap, DBCA, WA. 2020.
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.
Doherty_202133M. 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.
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/.
NSWFRD_201433B. 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_202233VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
WAH_2022_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
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.
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.
Schmidt_199311S. Schmidt. “Unpublished data: Compilation of mycorrhizal status data, University of Queensland”. 1993.
WAH_2023_211Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.