Barry Conn (NSW) & Kipiro Damas (LAE).
Guide to trees of Papua New Guinea
Copyright held by the authors, National Herbarium of New South Wales, and Papua New Guinea National Herbarium

Casuarina equisetifolia L.

Amoenitates Academicae 143 (1759)

Other Literature: F.Friis, Taxon 490-500 (1980)

Family: Casuarinaceae
Dicotyledon

Timber Group: Minor hardwood Tradename: Yar, She-oak (in Australia)

Field Characters: Large canopy tree (up to 40 m high); Bole cylindrical (50-100 cm diam.); straight (bole up to 25 m long); buttresses buttresses present (rarely short) or buttresses absent; spines spines absent; aerial roots aerial roots absent; stilt roots stilt roots absent; Bark grey or brown, rough, fissured or peeling (in irregular flakes); bark blaze consisting of one layer; outer blaze red, brown, or pale purple, with stripes, fibrous; inner blaze red, brown, or pale purple, with stripes, fibrous; bark exudate (sap) present, yellow or pale brown, not readily flowing (spotty), colour not changing on exposure to air, sticky; terminal buds not enclosed by leaves.

Indumentum: Complex hairs absent; stinging hairs absent; mature twig indumentum (hairs) absent.

Leaves: Leaves spaced along branches (as minute whorled scales), whorled (with more than two leaves at one node of a branchlet), 6, simple (a leaf composed of a single blade); petiole absent; leaves broadest at or near middle, 0.1 cm, 0.1 cm; symmetric, entire, not dissected or lobed, acute, venation parallel-veined, secondary veins open, not prominent, but visible, intramarginal veins present; leaves lower surface pale green, upper surface pale green, indumentum (hairs) absent; absent; domatia absent; stipules absent.

Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, flowers on an unbranched axis, flowers arranged in a cone (strobilus); flowers unisexual, unisexual with male and female flowers on the same plant, not stalked, flowers slightly asymmetric, diameter small (up to10 mm diam.); perianth absent (female flowers; with one cream-coloured, scale-like tepal in male flowers) or present; stamens 1, present, free of each other; ovary superior, carpels joined (when more than one), locules 2; styles solitary, 1 (2-branched).

Fruits: Infrutescence arranged on unbranched axis, arrangement of fruits present, cone 10.0-24.0 mm, 9.0-13.0 mm, brown (maturing to grey); seeds 1, to about 5 mm long (samara 6-8 mm long), winged, broad (as wide as long) (excluding wing of samara), seed 1-10 mm diam.

Distribution: West Sepik, East Sepik, Madang, Morobe, Northern, Milne Bay, Papuan Islands, New Britain, New Ireland, Manus & Bougainville.

Botanical records in PNGplants database Map details

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