AusTraits

Spinifex longifolius

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Spinifex longifolius R.Br.

Synonyms: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Spinifex fragilis R.Br. (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA (doubtfully naturalised), Qld

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

Traits

Top source datasets: GrassBase_2014 (6), Kew_2019_3 (1), Metcalfe_2020_2 (15), NHNSW_2014 (1), Osborne_2014 (1), Schmidt_2003 (11), Sjostrom_2006 (4), Sweedman_2006 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), Wheeler_2002 (9). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 32 traits from 62 records in 13 datasets.

Traits by category (click to expand). For categorical traits, the values are listed. For numerical traits, the mean and range are shown.

flower morphology
  • sex_type (categorical): dioecious (2); hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006; WAH_2023_2]
  • fruit_fleshiness (categorical): dry (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1); indehiscent (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 412.5 mm2 (412.5-412.5 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 237.5 mm (150-350 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Wheeler_2002]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 2.5 mm (1.5-4 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Wheeler_2002]
  • leaf_dry_matter_content (numerical): 0.1 g/g (0.08-0.13 g/g) [sources: Schmidt_2003]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): linear (1) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
  • leaf_lobation (categorical): unlobed (1) [sources: Wheeler_2002]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Wheeler_2002]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Osborne_2014]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (2); herb (2); tussock (3) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Schmidt_2003; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; Wheeler_2002]
  • life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): perennial (4) [sources: Schmidt_2003; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023; Wheeler_2002]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (2) [sources: WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): caespitose (1); rhizomatous (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: Schmidt_2003]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1); non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Schmidt_2003]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • flowering_time (categorical): nnnnyyyyyyyn (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): aboveground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • storage_organ (categorical): rhizome (1) [sources: WAH_2023_2]
nutrient and stable isotope
whole plant morphology
  • plant_height (numerical): 0.6 m (0.3-1 m) [sources: GrassBase_2014; WAH_2023_2]

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
Metcalfe_2020_21515D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
Schmidt_2003811S. Schmidt and G. R. Stewart. “d15N values of tropical savanna and monsoon forest species reflect root specialisations and soil nitrogen status”. Oecologia 134 (2003), pp. 569-577. doi: 10.1007/s00442-002-1150-y.
Wheeler_200279J. R. Wheeler, N. G. Marchant, and M. Lewington. Flora of the south west: Bunbury, Augusta, Denmark. Australian Biological Resources Study ; University of Western Australia Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780642568168.
GrassBase_201436W. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, and K. H. &. H. Williamson. GrassBase - The online world grass flora. 2006. url: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
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/.
WAH_2023_234Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Sweedman_200613L. Sweedman and D. Merritt. Australian Seeds: A Guide to Their Collection, Identification, and Biology. CSIRO Publishing, 2006. ISBN: 9780643094079.
Wenk_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_311Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Salt and water tolerance data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
NHNSW_201411Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/search/simple.htm.
Osborne_201411C. Osborne, A. Salomaa, T. Kluyver, V. Visser, E. Kellogg, O. Morrone, M. Vorontsova, W. Clayton, and D. Simpson. “A global database of C4 photosynthesis in grasses”. New Phytologist 204 (2014), pp. 441-446. doi: 10.1111/nph.12942.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.