AusTraits

Tribulus terrestris

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Zygophyllaceae

Taxonomy: Tribulus terrestris L.

Synonyms: 7 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Tribulus terrestis J.W.Green (orthographic variant)
  • Tribulus terrestris (long style) R.M.Barker (taxonomic synonym)
  • Tribulus terrestris (short style) R.M.Barker (taxonomic synonym)
  • Tribulus terrestris L. var. terrestris (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Tribulus terrestris f. long style R.M.Barker (taxonomic synonym)
  • Tribulus terrestris f. short style R.M.Barker (taxonomic synonym)
  • Tribulus terrestris var. macrocarpus Rouy (taxonomic synonym)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), NT (naturalised), SA (naturalised), Qld, NSW (naturalised), ACT (naturalised), Vic (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 (14), Jurado_1991 (6), Kew_2019_1 (4), Kew_2019_2 (2), Kew_2019_4 (2), Kew_2019_5 (2), NHNSW_2014_2 (4), NHNSW_2022 (3), NHNSW_2023 (10), NTH_2022 (4), NTH_2023 (5), RBGV_2022 (4), RBGV_2023 (12), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (10), WAH_2022_1 (3), WAH_2022_2 (4), WAH_2023_2 (3), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (20), Williams_2011 (11), Wright_2000 (5). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 51 traits from 138 records in 24 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
  • flower_colour (categorical): yellow_orange (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_length (numerical): 6.88 mm (4-10 mm) [sources: NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • fruit_width (numerical): 11.5 mm (8-13 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_height (numerical): 10.5 mm (8-13 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NTH_2023]
  • fruit_type (categorical): mericarp (5); schizocarp (1) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
  • fruit_dehiscence (categorical): indehiscent (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
leaf morphology
  • leaf_area (numerical): 16 mm2 (16-16 mm2) [sources: Jurado_1991]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 8 mm (4-12 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 3.67 mm (1-5 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_elliptical (1); oblong (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_base_shape (categorical): oblique (1) [sources: ABRS_2023]
  • leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): compound (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): opposite (4) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2014_2; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (6) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; NTH_2023; RBGV_2023; SAH_2023; WAH_2023_2]
life history
  • photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c4 (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (11) [sources: ABRS_2022; Jurado_1991; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (6); perennial (2) [sources: NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (8) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_1; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): prostrate (7); spreading (1) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; NTH_2022; RBGV_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; White_2020]
  • nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (2) [sources: White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • root_structure (categorical): arbuscular_mycorrhizal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • pollination_system (categorical): biotic_unspecialised (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): barochory (2); epizoochory (2); zoochory (1) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_5; White_2020; Williams_2011]
  • dispersers (categorical): mammals (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yyyyynnnnnny (1); yyyyynnnyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): non_clonal (1) [sources: Williams_2011]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 22.25 mg (1.3-39.45 mg) [sources: Jurado_1991; Kew_2019_1; Williams_2011]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20202020M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
ABRS_20231114Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
RBGV_20231012VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Williams_20111111R. P. Duncan, S. E. Clemants, R. T. Corlett, A. K. Hahs, M. A. McCarthy, M. J. McDonnell, M. W. Schwartz, K. Thompson, P. A. Vesk, and N. S. G. Williams. “Plant traits and extinction in urban areas: a meta-analysis of 11 cities”. Global Ecology and Biogeography 20.4 (2011), pp. 509-519. doi: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00633.x.
NHNSW_2023810N. 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_2023810S. 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/.
Jurado_199166E. Jurado. “Diaspore weight, dispersal, growth form and perenniality of central Australian plants”. Journal of Ecology 79 (1991), pp. 811-828.
NTH_202355D. 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/.
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.
Kew_2019_114Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
NHNSW_2014_244Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
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/.
SAH_202244S. 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_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.
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/.
WAH_2022_133Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2022. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
WAH_2023_233Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/.
Kew_2019_212Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_412Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Oil content data from Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
Kew_2019_512Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed dispersal data from the Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.