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]
Habitat
Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 426 meters (0 to 1,398 feet).[2]
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:
microstachya
- (Miq.) L.A.S. Johnson
- Botanical name: - Allocasuarina microstachya (Miq.) L.A.S. Johnson
- Specific epithet:
microstachya
- (Miq.) 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
(
Synonyms
Casuarina microstachya Miq.
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 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
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal January 30, 2008:
- Australian National Herbarium
- , Australian National Herbarium
- National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3905005
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: IOP-49002
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:909953-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 909953-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 432147
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]
- Mean = 239.180 meters (784.711 feet), Standard Deviation = 118.120 based on 50 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
