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Species
Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
More info for the terms: dioecious, monoecious, tree
Sheoak is a medium to tall evergreen tree. It has a stout
trunk with rough bark and erect or semispreading main branches and
drooping twigs [12]. Its leaves are jointed and scalelike. Its fruits
are round and warty with winged seeds. Trees can be dioecious or
monoecious; male flowers are borne at the tips of twigs, while female
flowers form on nonshedding branches [3,14]. Sheoak fixes
nitrogen with the aid of Frankia spp. fungi.
Characteristics of individual species are as follows:
C. cunninghamiana - 80 feet (25 m) in height, 2 feet (6 m) d.b.h.,
dioecious, nonsprouter.
C. equisetifolia - 50 to 100 feet (15-30 m) in height, 1.0 to 1.5 feet
(3-5 m) d.b.h., monoecious, nonsprouter.
C. glauca - 40 to 50 feet (10-15 m) in height, 1.5 feet (5 m) d.b.h.,
dioecious, agressive sprouter, in Florida, usually does not
produce fruit [12].
Trees greater than 3 inches (8 cm) in diameter are killed by fire [3].
Only subsp. cunninghamiana is cultivated in China. Used for timber.
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Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005532 |
Trees dioecious, to 25(-35) m tall, often with suckers from roots. Trunk straight, to ca. 40 cm d.b.h.; crown pyramidal; bark finely fissured and scaly, gray, adaxially pale red. Ultimate branchlets spreading to slightly pendulous, dark green, grayish green, or glaucous-green when dry, 15-38 cm × 0.5-0.7 mm; articles 4-5 mm. Leaves erect, 8(-10) per whorl, narrowly lanceolate. Male spikes 1.2-2(-4) cm. Cones ellipsoid or subglobose, 7-12 mm, truncate at both ends; apex of bracteoles acute. Samaras 3-5 mm including wing. Fl. Apr, fr. Jun-Sep. 2n = 18*.
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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=200005532 |
Sheoak less than 3 inches (8 cm) in diameter can sucker
following fire [3].
sheoak
she-oak
river sheoak
river-oak
Cunningham casuarina
Australian-pine
horestail casuarina
grey sheoak
ironwood
longleaf casuarina
whistling pine
Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora): North America; native to ne, e Australia.
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Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200005532 |
Sheoak regenerates by seed as well as vegetatively through
sprouting [3,12,14]. It is fast growing (5 to 10 feet [1.5-3 m] per
year) [14]. Seeds average 300,000 per pound. No pregermination
treatment is necessary. Seeds can remain fertile for a few months to a
year and will germinate in moist and porous soil, sometimes within 4 to
8 days of dispersal [14].
The scientific name for the sheoak genus is Casuarina (Casuarinaceae) [12,19].
Three species of sheoak are common in the United States. All will be treated
in this report because of their similar status as invader species and
across-the-board management plans to eradicate the genus from the continent.
These species are [6,19]:
Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq. river sheoak
Casuarina equisetifolia L. Australian-pine
Casuarina glauca Seiber gray sheoak
These species hybridize with each other [14].
More info on this topic.
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