AusTraits

Urochloa piligera

Explore the data for this taxon in the portal

Family Poaceae

Taxonomy: Urochloa piligera (F.Muell. ex Benth.) R.D.Webster

Synonyms: 8 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Brachiaria piligera (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Hughes (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Brachiaria piligera (F.Muell. ex Benth.) Hughes var. piligera (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Brachiaria piligera var. intercedens (Domin) Hughes (taxonomic synonym)
  • Panicum intercedens Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Panicum piligerum F.Muell. ex Benth. (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Panicum piligerum F.Muell. ex Benth. var. piligerum (nomenclatural synonym)
  • Panicum piligerum var. denudatum Domin (taxonomic synonym)
  • Panicum piligerum var. eminens Domin (taxonomic synonym)
Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)
  • Brachiaria subquadripara (Trin.) Hitchc. (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA, NT, SA, Qld, NSW

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

Traits

Top source datasets: Crowley_2007 (2), Draper_2023 (3), GrassBase_2014 (6), Kew_2019_1 (1), Lord_1997 (3), Metcalfe_2020_2 (18), Munroe_2019 (1), NHNSW_2014 (1), NHNSW_2014_2 (1), NHNSW_2022 (4), NHNSW_2023 (7), Nano_2011 (2), Osborne_2014 (1), Rice_1991 (1), SAH_2022 (4), SAH_2023 (7), 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 (6). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 46 traits from 103 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): green (1) [sources: eFLOWER_Dun_2022]
  • sex_type (categorical): andromonoecious (1); hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; Sjostrom_2006]
fruit morphology
  • fruit_type (categorical): caryopsis (4) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_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): 399 mm2 (399-399 mm2) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_length (numerical): 61.25 mm (15-150 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_width (numerical): 7.12 mm (3-11 mm) [sources: GrassBase_2014; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_shape (categorical): lanceolate (1); linear (1) [sources: SAH_2023]
  • leaf_compoundness (categorical): simple (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • leaf_lamina_posture (categorical): flat (2) [sources: NHNSW_2023; SAH_2023]
  • leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): alternate (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
  • plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (2) [sources: NHNSW_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 (3); herb (4); tussock (3) [sources: Lord_1997; Metcalfe_2020_2; NHNSW_2022; Rice_1991; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
  • life_form (categorical): therophyte (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • life_history (categorical): annual (5); perennial (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; Simpson_2021; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
  • woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (4) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
  • stem_growth_habit (categorical): decumbent (3); erect (2); stoloniferous (1) [sources: NHNSW_2022; SAH_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); self (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
  • dispersal_syndrome (categorical): anemochory (3); barochory (1); epizoochory (1); hydrochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; Lord_1997; Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
  • dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); mammals_domestic (1); water (1); wind (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
  • flowering_time (categorical): yynnnnnnnnny (2); yyyyyyyyyyyy (1) [sources: NHNSW_2014; NHNSW_2014_2; White_2020]
  • seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
  • vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1); vegetative (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2; White_2020]
  • clonal_spread_mechanism (categorical): aboveground_clonal (1) [sources: Metcalfe_2020_2]
  • bud_bank_location (categorical): none (2); stolon (1) [sources: Crowley_2007; Nano_2011; Simpson_2021]
seed morphology
  • seed_dry_mass (numerical): 2.87 mg (2.83-2.9 mg) [sources: Kew_2019_1; Lord_1997]
whole plant morphology

Sources

dataset_idn_traitsn_recordsreference
White_20201919M. White, S. Sinclair, and D. Frood. Victorian Vital Attributes Database. database. Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, 2020.
Metcalfe_2020_21718D. Metcalfe. “Unpublished data: Traits of Poaceae spp, CSIRO”. 2020.
NHNSW_202367N. 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_202357S. 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/.
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.
eFLOWER_Dun_202256L. Dun and H. Sauquet. “Unpublished: Floral traits for GAP taxa, University of New South Wales, Australia”. 2022.
NHNSW_202244N. 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/.
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/.
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/.
Draper_202333J. T. Draper, S. Delean, J. G. Conran, P. Weinstein, and B. S. Simpson. “Life-history characteristics and climate correlates of dioecious plant species in central southern Australia”. Australian Journal of Botany unknown.unknown (2023), p. unknown. doi: 10.1071/BT22110.
Lord_199733J. Lord, J. Egan, T. Clifford, E. Jurado, M. Leishman, D. Williams, and M. Westoby. “Larger seeds in tropical floras: Consistent patterns independent of growth form and dispersal mode”. Journal of Biogeography 24 (1997), pp. 205-211. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2699.1997.00126.x.
WAH_2023_223Western Australian Herbarium. Florabase—the Western Australian Flora.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. 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.
Simpson_202122K. 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_202222E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Kew_2019_111Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Seed Information Database (SID) and Seed Bank Database. 2019. url: http://data.kew.org/sid/.
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.
NHNSW_201411Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/search/simple.htm.
NHNSW_2014_211Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. PLantNET: NSW flora online. 2014. url: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/.
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.
Rice_199111B. Rice. “Unpublished data: Growth form of Kakadu plant species, Macquarie University”. 1991.
Wenk_202311E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.