Casuarina stricta

Aiton

Drooping sheoak, Mountain oak

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Description

A small spreading tree. It grows 4-11 m high and spreads 3-6 m wide. The trunk is tall and erect. The branches droop. The small branches are dark green and have prominent ridges. There are 9-12 leaf teeth. These are sharply pointed. The male flowers are in spikes. These are at the ends of side branches. They are 8-12 cm long. The cones are 2-4.5 cm long by 2-3 cm wide. They have sharply pointed valves.

Edible Uses

The seeds are edible.

Distribution

It grows near the coast and can tolerate salty winds and salty soils. Plants are not affected by frost. The variety spectabilis occurs in northern Tasmania.

Where It Grows

Asia, Australia*, Indonesia, SE Asia, Tasmania,

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.

Notes

There are about 17 Casuarina species.

Synonyms

Now Allocasuarina verticillata

References (7)

Greig, D., 1996, Flowering Natives for Home Gardens. Angus & Robertson. p 114
Hort. kew. 3:320. 1789
Kirkpatrick, J.B. & Backhouse, S., 1985, Native Trees of Tasmania. p 63
Leiper, G & Houser, J., Mutooroo. Plant Use by Australian Aboriginal People. Assembly press, Queensland.
Lord, E.E., & Willis, J.H., 1999, Shrubs and Trees for Australian gardens. Lothian. p 14

Show all 7 references

Morley, B.D., & Toelken, H.R., (Eds), 1983, Flowering Plants in Australia. Rigby. p 66
Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 186