Tragus australianus

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Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Tragus australianus S.T.Blake

Misapplied names: 3 (APC 2026-07-30)

Lappago racemosa (L.) Honck. (misapplied)
Tragus heptoneuron Clayton (misapplied)
Tragus racemosus (L.) All. (misapplied)

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

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (4), ABRS_2023 (13), GrassBase_2014 (8), Jurado_1991 (6), Jurado_1992 (3), Kew_2019_1 (1), Kew_2019_5 (1), Metcalfe_2020_2 (17), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (5), NSWFRD_2014 (2), Osborne_2014 (1), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (10), SAH_2022 (3), SAH_2023 (5), Simpson_2021 (2), Sjostrom_2006 (4), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19), eFLOWER_Dun_2022 (5). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 48 traits from 128 records in 25 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 (3) [sources: NSWFRD_2014; Simpson_2021; White_2020]

flower morphology

flower_colour (categorical): green (1) [sources: eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.2-2.1 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2]
fruit_width (numerical): 0.62 mm (0.5-0.75 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (7) [sources: ABRS_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; 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): 91 mm2 (80-102 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_length (numerical): 49.17 mm (20-100 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; RBGV_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 4.33 mm (2.5-6 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; GrassBase_2014; RBGV_2023]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): cordate (1); sheathing (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Munroe_2019; Osborne_2014; White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): graminoid (6); herb (6); tussock (3) [sources: ABRS_2022; Jurado_1991; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; NSWFRD_2014; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_form (categorical): hemicryptophyte (1); therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
life_history (categorical): annual (7); ephemeral (2) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (3); erect (4); prostrate (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
root_structure (categorical): non_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): abiotic (1); wind (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (3); zoochory (1) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_5; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]

seed morphology

seed_dry_mass (numerical): 0.45 mg (0.2-0.61 mg) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_1; Metcalfe_2020_2]
seed_length (numerical): 1.65 mm (1.2-2.1 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.26 m (0.05-0.43 m) [sources: GrassBase_2014; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
plant_physical_defence_structures (categorical): absent (1) [sources: White_2020]

Sources

dataset_id	n_traits	n_records	reference
White_2020	19	19	M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_2020_2	16	17	D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
ABRS_2023	9	13	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_2023	7	10	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
GrassBase_2014	4	8	W. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, and K. H. &. H. Williamson. GrassBase - The online world grass flora. 2006. url: http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db.html.
Jurado_1991	6	6	E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
NHNSW_2023	5	5	N. 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/.
SAH_2023	4	5	S. 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/.
eFLOWER_Dun_2022	5	5	L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
ABRS_2022	4	4	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2022	4	4	N. 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/.
RBGV_2022	4	4	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_2006	4	4	A. 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_2	4	4	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Jurado_1992	1	3	E. Jurado and M. Westoby. “Germination biology of selected central Australian plants”. Austral Ecology 17.3 (1992), pp. 341-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9993.1992.tb00816.x.
SAH_2022	3	3	S. 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/.
WAH_2023_2	2	3	Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
NSWFRD_2014	2	2	B. 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.
Simpson_2021	2	2	K. J. Simpson, E. C. Jardine, S. Archibald, E. J. Forrestel, C. E. R. Lehmann, G. H. Thomas, and C. P. Osborne. “Resprouting grasses are associated with less frequent fire than seeders”. New Phytologist 230 (2021), pp. 832-844. doi: 10.1111/nph.17069.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_1	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_5	1	1	Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Munroe_2019	1	1	S. 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.
Osborne_2014	1	1	C. 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_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.