Casuarina equisetifolia is a species of Casuarina, native to Australasia, southeastern Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean, from Burma and Vietnam east to French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu, and south to Australia (north of Northern Territory, north and east Queensland, and northeastern New South Wales). It is also found in West Africa, where it is known as the Filao Tree and is planted to prevent erosion in sandy soils. It is possibly native to Madagascar.
It is an evergreen tree growing to 6–35 m tall. The foliage consists of slender, much-branched green to grey-green twigs 0.5–1 mm diameter, bearing minute scale-leaves in whorls of 6–8. The flowers are produced in small catkin-like inflorescences; the male flowers in simple spikes 0.7–4 cm long, the female flowers on short peduncles. Unlike most other species of Casuarina (which are dioecious) it is monoecious, with male and female flowers produced on the same tree. The fruit is an oval woody structure 10–24 mm long and 9–13 mm diameter, superficially resembling a conifer cone made up of numerous carpels each containing a single seed with a small wing 6–8 mm long.
There are two subspecies:
- Casuarina equisetifolia subsp. equisetifolia. Large tree to 35 m tall; twigs 0.5–0.7 mm diameter, hairless. Southeast Asia, northern Australia.
- Casuarina equisetifolia subsp. incana (Benth.) L.A.S.Johnson. Small tree to 12 m tall; twigs 0.7–1 mm diameter, downy. Eastern Australia (eastern Queensland, New South Wales), New Caledonia, southern Vanuatu.
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Last updated on Sunday July 06, 2008 at 08:39:49 PDT (GMT -0700)
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