Interesting Facts
Description
Family Casuarinaceae
Trees
or shrubs
evergreen
, monoecious or dioecious. Ultimate
branchlets
jointed
, with several short, basal articles and 1-numerous elongated articles, slender, ridged
, often pubescent
at least when young. Leaves small, toothlike, in whorls of 4 to ca.
20 (equal to number of ridges
on branchlets) ; stipules absent. Inflorescences spikelike or headlike, with alternating whorls of toothlike bracts; within each bract a single flower, with 2 lateral
scalelike bracteoles, persistent
(rarely deciduous in male Allocasuarina) ; parts sometimes pubescent when young, mostly glabrous
at maturity. Flowers unisexual
, without pedicels. Male inflorescences spikes, terminal
or lateral, terete
, slender. Female inflorescences headlike, globose
or ellipsoid
, usually terminal on short, lateral branches. Male flowers: tepals 1 or 2, scalelike, deciduous, hooded
; stamen 1; anthers
2-loculed, longitudinally dehiscent
, basifixed
. Female flowers: perianth none; carpels 2, fused; only anterior carpel fertile, posterior carpel usually ± reduced or obsolete
; ovules 2 (rarely 4), parietal
, paired
at base
of carpel, chalazogamous; style short; stigmas 2, red, linear
. Infructescences
± woody, conelike, with dense whorls of fruit, with 2 bracteoles of each flower enlarged as valves
, persistent. Samaras flat, (usually) winged
at apex, initially enclosed by 2 bracteoles, which separate at maturity to release
samara. Seed 1; cotyledons large; endosperm absent; embryo straight, often more than 1.
Four genera and 97 species: mainly in Australia, extending to SE Asia, Malesia, Pacific Islands; commonly introduced
and occasionally naturalized
elsewhere; one genus and three species (all introduced) in China.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
()
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Rosidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Casuarinanae
()
- (Lindley, 1833) Takhtajan, 1997 Ex Reveal & Doweld, 1999
- Order:
Fagales
()
- Engler, 1892
- Family:
Casuarinaceae
()
- R. Brown, in Flinders, 1814
- She-Oak Family
- Genus:
Allocasuarina
()
- L.A.S. Johnson, 1982
- Specific epithet:
muelleriana
- L.A.S.Johnson
- Botanical name: - Allocasuarina muelleriana subsp. alticola L.A.S.Johnson
- Specific epithet:
muelleriana
- L.A.S.Johnson
- Genus:
Allocasuarina
(
- Family:
Casuarinaceae
(
- Order:
Fagales
(
- Superorder:
Casuarinanae
(
- Subclass:
Rosidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Wilson K .L. and Johnson L.A.S., 1996.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Allocasuarina
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 6 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. decaisneana (Desert Oak) · A. lehmanniana (She-Oak) · A. littoralis (Black Sheoak) · A. muelleriana (Slaty She-Oak) · A. torulosa (Forest Oak) · A. verticillata (Drooping She-Oak)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Chen Te-chao. 1982. Casuarinaceae. In: Tseng Yung-chien, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 20(1): 1-5.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 16, 2012.
Identifiers
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID:
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 3836973
Footnotes
- Nianhe Xia, Lawrence A. S. Johnson & Karen L. Wilson "Casuarinaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 106. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
