Casuarina (LA Urban Forest Program)

Casuarina

Casuarina cunninghamiana

Common names ⁸

sheoak
she-oak
river sheoak
river-oak
Cunningham casuarina
Australian-pine
horestail casuarina
grey sheoak
ironwood
longleaf casuarina
whistling pine

Description ⁹

More info for the terms: dioecious, monoecious, tree

Sheoak is a medium to tall evergreen tree. It has a stout
trunk with rough bark and erect or semispreading main branches and
drooping twigs [12]. Its leaves are jointed and scalelike. Its fruits
are round and warty with winged seeds. Trees can be dioecious or
monoecious; male flowers are borne at the tips of twigs, while female
flowers form on nonshedding branches [3,14]. Sheoak fixes
nitrogen with the aid of Frankia spp. fungi.

Characteristics of individual species are as follows:

C. cunninghamiana - 80 feet (25 m) in height, 2 feet (6 m) d.b.h.,
dioecious, nonsprouter.
C. equisetifolia - 50 to 100 feet (15-30 m) in height, 1.0 to 1.5 feet
(3-5 m) d.b.h., monoecious, nonsprouter.
C. glauca - 40 to 50 feet (10-15 m) in height, 1.5 feet (5 m) d.b.h.,
dioecious, agressive sprouter, in Florida, usually does not
produce fruit [12].

Description ¹⁰

Trees dioecious, to 25(-35) m tall, often with suckers from roots. Trunk straight, to ca. 40 cm d.b.h.; crown pyramidal; bark finely fissured and scaly, gray, adaxially pale red. Ultimate branchlets spreading to slightly pendulous, dark green, grayish green, or glaucous-green when dry, 15-38 cm × 0.5-0.7 mm; articles 4-5 mm. Leaves erect, 8(-10) per whorl, narrowly lanceolate. Male spikes 1.2-2(-4) cm. Cones ellipsoid or subglobose, 7-12 mm, truncate at both ends; apex of bracteoles acute. Samaras 3-5 mm including wing. Fl. Apr, fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 18*.