An examination of Floras and related literature from various countries of the world has revealed a wide range of interpretations and concepts for indigenous plants. Nevertheless, an indigenous plant species has been universally defined as one that was not deliberately or accidentally introduced by man. An important recent addendum to the ‘indigenous’ definition is that it must disperse from an area where it is considered native. Particularly problematic are the so-called ‘pantropical’ or ‘cosmopolitan’ plants. These species are usually invasive and abundant, but most could not have crossed major barriers without the assistance of humans, and hence should be regarded as non-native species throughout much of their range. The accurate assessment of the alien or indigenous status of these and other taxa has been hampered by a lack of knowledge about their geographic origins and dispersal ability. Australian botanists have frequently adhered to a concept of indigenous plants being any that were thought to be present before European settlement in their region of interest – 1788 for the Sydney area, and as late as the 1850s for northern Australia. This definition is unrealistic and unworkable, especially when considering the ‘pantropical’ species. The transport of plants by maritime traders and explorers into the Indonesian and west Pacific areas has occurred for at least the past 3000 years. European colonisation in those areas from the 16th century accelerated plant introductions. Some of those plant species undoubtedly made their way to Australia before European settlement. This paper presents explicit definitions for indigenous (native) or alien (exotic, introduced, non-indigenous) plant species in Australia. A system of assessment using a combination of ecological, phytogeographical and historical criteria (the EPH system) allows the determination of ‘origin status’ for individual species. As a case study, data are presented for 40 plant species of disputed origin status. These species are assessed against the criteria, and a recommended origin status given for Australian occurrences.

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of measurements of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 375 traits across 29230 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxa descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological parameters (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual-, species- and genus-level observations coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties. This data descriptor provides information on version 2.1.0 of AusTraits which contains data for 937243 trait-by-taxa combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data to increase our collective understanding of the Australian flora.

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

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The leaf essential oils of Leptospermum polygalifolium and related species were isolated and examined. L. morrisonlii produced an essential oil in which the principal component was the β‐triketone grandiflorone, while in L. oreophilum the principal component was (E,E)‐farnesol. L. variabile gave oils with a spread of composition, the majority of samples being rich in geranyl acetate, β‐caryophyllene and humulene, while another sample was rich in 1,8‐cineole and a further sample contained comparable amounts of α‐pinene, β‐caryophyllene and α‐, β‐ and γ‐eudesmol. Leptospermum sp. (Mt Maroon, A.R. Bean 6665) appeared to be a chemically variable species; one specimen showed β‐caryophyllene and humulene as principal components, while a second gave an oil rich in sesquiterpenes with β‐caryophyllene, δ‐cadinene, calamenene and an unidentified sesquiterpene hydrocarbon being the major contributors. Of the seven subspecies of L. polygalifolium, ssp. polygalifolium, montanum and howense contained oils which were rich in α‐, β, and γ‐eudesmol. These were the only subspecies to contain these compounds in more than trace amounts. Of the remaining four subspecies, ssp. cismontanum, transmontanum, tropicum and ‘wallum’, all contained significant amounts of 1,8‐cineole. They usually contained larger quantities of spathulenol. All seven subspecies contained α‐pinene in significant amounts, while all but spp. howense also contained β‐pinene, usually in comparable amounts. Leptospermum madidum spp. sativum gave an oil rich in monoterpenes, with α‐pinene, β‐pinene, and γ‐terpinene being the major components. α‐, β‐, and γ‐eudesmol also made significant contributions to the oil. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.