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Species
Casuarina equisetifolia L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Habit: Tree
More info on this topic.
More info for the term: phanerophyte
Phanerophyte
Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked
Reasons: Native of tropical Asia and Australasia but planted and naturalized in various tropical and subtropical regions. Southern Florida including Florida Keys, Bermuda, through West Indies from Bahamas and Cuba to Trindad, and Mexico to South America. Natural regeneration is rare in Puerto Rico where it is planted along protected sandy seacoasts and less commonly in the lower mountain regions.
Trees monoecious, to 35 m tall, not suckering from roots. Trunk straight, to 70 cm d.b.h.; crown conical; bark scaly, adaxially red-brown on old trees. Ultimate branchlets usually pendu-
lous, grayish green, 10-27 cm × 0.8-0.9 mm; articles (2.5-)4-9 mm. Leaves erect and appressed to branchlets, (6 or)7(or 8) per whorl, lanceolate or triangular, 1-3 mm. Male inflorescences 1-4 cm. Cones ellipsoid, 1.2-2.5 cm, grayish green or yellowish brown tomentose when young, glabrous at maturity, base and apex truncate to obtuse; apex of bracteoles slightly obtuse or acute. Samaras 5-8 mm including wing. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Oct. 2n = 18, 20*.
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Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005533 |
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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):
More info for the term: shrub
FRES12 Longleaf - slash pine
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES41 Wet grasslands
FRES42 Annual grasslands
More info for the term: tree
Tree
All 3 species of sheoak are list as noxious weeds (prohibited aquatic
plants, Class 1) in Florida [16].
Australian pine was introduced to Florida in the late 1800's and planted widely for the purposes of ditch and canal stabilization, shade and lumber.
Because of its nitrogen-fixing capability, sheoak can colonize
nutrient-poor soils [12]. It can grow in sloughs, sawgrass (Cladium
jamaicensis) glades, wet prairies, saltmarshes, pinelands, along rocky
coasts, on sandbars, dunes, and islands, and in water-logged clay or
brackish tidal areas [3,10,14,17,18]. C. equisetifolia is found only in
south Florida because of its cold intolerance. It is resistant to salt
spray but not to prolonged flooding. C. cunninghaminana grows along
freshwater streambanks and is not salt tolerant [3]. It is more
resistant to cold temperatures than C. equisetifolia [12]. C. glauca
grows on steep slopes as well as in intermittently flooded or poorly
drained sites. It is salt tolerant [3].
Some associates of sheoak include eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.),
melaleuca (Melaleuca quinquenervia), lovegrass (Eragrostis spp.), muhly
grasses (Huhlenbergia spp.), beard grasses (Andropogon spp.), plume
grass (Erianthus giganteus), saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia), wax
myrtle (Myrica cerifera), willow (Salix spp.), sweetbay (Magnolia
virginiana), redbay (Persia borbonia), and coco plum (Chrysobalanus
icaco) [18]. Native associates in the Northern Mariana Islands include
Neisosperma, Barringtonia, Terminalia, Heritiera, Cynometia, and Cordia
[5,6].