Verbena africana

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Family Verbenaceae

Taxonomy: Verbena africana (R.Fern. & Verdc.) P.W.Michael

Synonyms: 2 (APC 2026-07-30)

Verbena officinalis subsp. africana R.Fern. & Verdc. (nomenclatural synonym)
Verbena officinalis var. africana (R.Fern. & Verdc.) Munir (nomenclatural synonym)

Misapplied names: 1 (APC 2026-07-30)

Verbena officinalis var. natalensis Hochst. ex C.Krauss (misapplied)

Distribution (APC): WA (naturalised), Qld, NSW, Vic (uncertain origin)

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

Traits

Top source datasets: ABRS_2022 (2), ABRS_2023 (14), Draper_2023 (3), NHNSW_2022 (2), NHNSW_2023 (13), RBGV_2022 (2), RBGV_2023 (3), Sjostrom_2006 (2), WAH_2022_2 (4), Wenk_2022 (2), Wenk_2023 (1), White_2020 (19). See below for a full list of sources.
Summary: AusTraits contains 35 traits from 67 records in 12 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 (1) [sources: White_2020]

flower morphology

sex_type (categorical): hermaphrodite (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

fruit morphology

fruit_length (numerical): 1.75 mm (1.5-2 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023]
fruit_type (categorical): mericarp (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
fruit_dehiscence (categorical): dehiscent (1) [sources: Sjostrom_2006]

leaf morphology

leaf_length (numerical): 45 mm (20-70 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_width (numerical): 17.5 mm (5-30 mm) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_shape (categorical): narrowly_ovate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_base_shape (categorical): acute (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_margin (categorical): entire (2); toothed_serrate (2) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
leaf_lobation (categorical): lobed (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]
leaf_phyllotaxis (categorical): whorled (1) [sources: NHNSW_2023]
plant_photosynthetic_organ (categorical): leaf (3) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023; RBGV_2023]

life history

photosynthetic_pathway (categorical): c3 (1) [sources: White_2020]
plant_growth_form (categorical): herb (6) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022; White_2020]
life_history (categorical): annual (2); perennial (2) [sources: WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2023]
woodiness_detailed (categorical): herbaceous (5) [sources: ABRS_2022; NHNSW_2022; RBGV_2022; WAH_2022_2; Wenk_2022]
stem_growth_habit (categorical): erect (1) [sources: WAH_2022_2]
nitrogen_fixing (categorical): non_nitrogen_fixer (1) [sources: White_2020]
parasitic (categorical): not_parasitic (1) [sources: White_2020]
pollination_syndrome (categorical): insect (2) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersal_syndrome (categorical): epizoochory (1); zoochory (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
dispersers (categorical): abiotic (1); animals (1); mammals (1) [sources: Draper_2023; White_2020]
flowering_time (categorical): nnnnnnnnnyyy (1) [sources: White_2020]
seedbank_longevity_class (categorical): persistent (1) [sources: White_2020]
vegetative_reproduction_ability (categorical): not_vegetative (1) [sources: White_2020]

whole plant morphology

plant_height (numerical): 0.65 m (0.3-1 m) [sources: ABRS_2023; NHNSW_2023]
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.
ABRS_2023	10	14	Australian Biological Resources Study. Flora of Australia, Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.. accessed on 14 September, 2022.. 2023. url: http://www.ausflora.org.au.
NHNSW_2023	10	13	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/.
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/.
Draper_2023	3	3	J. 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.
RBGV_2023	3	3	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2023. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
ABRS_2022	2	2	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	2	2	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	2	2	VicFlora. Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. accessed on 6 May, 2022.. 2022. url: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/.
Sjostrom_2006	2	2	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.
Wenk_2022	2	2	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant growth forms dataset”. 2022.
Wenk_2023	1	1	E. Wenk. “Unpublished data: Australian plant life history dataset, University of New South Wales, Sydney”. 2023.