Allocasuarina decussata

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Allocasuarina decussata
Allocasuarina decussata4.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Allocasuarina
Species:
A. decussata
Binomial name
Allocasuarina decussata
AllocasuarinadecussataDistributionMap10.png
Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms [1]

Casuarina decussata Benth.

Allocasuarina decussata, commonly known as karri oak [2] or karri she-oak, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is an understory tree in karri forest but also occurs as a stunted shrub in places like Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Range.

Contents

Description

Karri oak usually grows as a medium tree 8–15 m (26–49 ft) high, although in harsh, exposed situations in places like the top of Bluff Knoll it is a stunted shrub or poorly-formed tree in shrubland. As with other members of the family Casuarinaceae, the foliage consists of wiry green branchlets called cladodes with rings of minute leaf scales. In this species, the branchlets are about 140 mm (5.5 in) long, roughly square or X-shaped in cross section, with four scale-teeth in each ring. The rings of scale-leaves are 7–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) apart. Separate male and female flowers form on the same individual plant. The fruiting structure is a woody cone, shaped like a short cylinder with its diameter roughly equal to or slightly greater than its length. The fruit is a winged samara 7–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long. [4] It often grows in association with Acacia pentadenia , [2] and Asplenium aethiopicum often grows as an epiphyte on its branches. [4]

Taxonomy

This species was first formally described in 1873 by George Bentham in Flora Australiensis from specimens collected by James Drummond near Cape Riche, Western Australia. Bentham gave it the name Casuarina decussata. [5] [6] In 1982, Lawrie Johnson moved it to its current genus Allocasuarina in his revision of the she-oaks. [7] It is closely related to A. torulosa of New South Wales and Queensland. [2] The specific epithet decussata is a Latin word meaning "like the letter X" or "the Roman numeral ten". [8]

Distribution and habitat

Karri oak is restricted to the southwest of Western Australia in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and Warren biogeographical regions. It grows on loam in the karri forest but is also found on much poorer soils in the Stirling Range. [3]

Cultivation and uses

Karri oak is not known in cultivation and there is only limited availability of timber because most trees are in national parks. Its pale reddish-brown heartwood has distinctive rays that potentially make it useful as a craft wood. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Allocasuarina</i> Genus of flowering plants

Allocasuarina, commonly known as sheoak or she-oak, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Australia. Plants in the genus Allocasuarina are trees or shrubs with soft, pendulous, green branchlets, the leaves reduced to scale-like teeth. Allocasuarinas are either monoecious or dioecious, the flowers never bisexual. Male and female flowers are arranged in spikes, the female spikes developing into cone-like structures enclosing winged seeds.

<i>Allocasuarina huegeliana</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina huegeliana, commonly known as rock sheoak is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Western Australia. It is a dioecious tree that has its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of eight to ten, the mature fruiting cones 14–35 mm (0.55–1.38 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5–7 mm (0.20–0.28 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina lehmanniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina lehmanniana, commonly known as dune sheoak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to near-coastal areas of the south-west of Western Australia. It is dioecious or less commonly a monoecious shrub that has its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of six to eight, the mature fruiting cones 12–35 mm (0.47–1.38 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 4.0–5.5 mm (0.16–0.22 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina torulosa</i> Species of tree

Allocasuarina torulosa, commonly known as forest oak, rose sheoak, river oak or Baker's oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a slender, usually dioecious tree that has drooping branchlets up to 140 mm (5.5 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four or five, and the fruiting cones 15–33 mm (0.6–1 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 7–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina humilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina humilis, commonly known as dwarf sheoak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect or spreading dioecious or monoecious shrub that has its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of five to seven, the mature fruiting cones 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina distyla</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina distyla, commonly known as scrub she-oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to south-eastern New South Wales. It is a dioecious shrub that has branchlets up to 350 mm (14 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of six to eight, the fruiting cones 13–35 mm (0.51–1.38 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 4.0–8.0 mm (0.16–0.31 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina luehmannii</i> Species of tree

Allocasuarina luehmannii, commonly known as buloke or bull-oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to south-eastern continental Australia. It is a dioecious tree, that has its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of ten to fourteen, and the mature fruiting cones are 5–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina decaisneana</i> Species of plant

Allocasuarina decaisneana, commonly known as desert oak, desert sheoak, or kurkara by the Anangu peoples, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Central Australia. It is a dioecious tree that typically grows to a height of 10–16 m (33–52 ft) and has long, drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four, the mature fruiting cones 28–95 mm (1.1–3.7 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 8.5–17 mm (0.3–0.7 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina verticillata</i> Species of plant

Allocasuarina verticillata, commonly known as drooping sheoak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a small dioecious tree that has drooping branchlets up to 400 mm (16 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of nine to thirteen, the mature fruiting cones 20–50 mm (0.8–2 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 7–12 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina inophloia</i> Species of tree

Allocasuarina inophloia, commonly known as stringybark she-oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a small dioecious tree that has finely fibrous, ribbony bark, its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of seven to nine, the mature fruiting cones 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina acuaria</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina acuaria is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a dioecious shrub that has erect branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four on the ends of the branchlets, the fruiting cones 15–19 mm (0.59–0.75 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) about 6 mm (0.24 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina acutivalvis</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina acutivalvis is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It is a dioecious shrub to small tree that has erect branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 10 to 14, the fruiting cones 15–35 mm (0.59–1.38 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 6–12 mm (0.24–0.47 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina drummondiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina drummondiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an intricately branched, dioecious shrub that has its leaves reduced to scales in whorls of six or seven, the mature fruiting cones 8–15 mm (0.31–0.59 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina grevilleoides</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina grevilleoides is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a small, spreading, dioecious shrub that forms a lignotuber, and has more or less erect, sharply-pointed branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four, the mature fruiting cones 9–14 mm (0.35–0.55 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5.5–7.0 mm (0.22–0.28 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina ramosissima</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina ramosissima is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dioecious shrub with its leaves reduced to overlapping scales in whorls of five, the mature fruiting cones sessile and 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in) long, containing winged seeds 4.5–5.0 mm (0.18–0.20 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina scleroclada</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina scleroclada is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to areas along the south coast of Western Australia. It is a straggly, dioecious shrub that has branchlets up to 230 mm (9.1 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of ten or eleven, the mature fruiting cones 18–25 mm (0.71–0.98 in) long containing winged seeds 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long.

Allocasuarina tessellata is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a dioecious shrub or tree that has more or less erect branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of eight or nine, the mature fruiting cones 26–55 mm (1.0–2.2 in) long containing winged seeds 5.0–7.5 mm (0.20–0.30 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina trichodon</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina trichodon is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to areas along the south coast of Western Australia. It is a dioecious, rarely a monoecious shrub that has branchlets up to 300 mm (12 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of eight to ten, and the fruiting cones 15–50 mm (0.59–1.97 in) long containing winged seeds 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina monilifera</i> Species of flowering plant

Allocasuarina monilifera, commonly known as necklace sheoak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is usually a monoecious, low-growing shrub that has branchlets up to 150 mm (5.9 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of six to nine, the fruiting cones 15–30 mm (0.59–1.18 in) long containing winged seeds 5–6 mm (0.20–0.24 in) long.

<i>Allocasuarina robusta</i> Species of plant

Allocasuarina robusta, commonly known as Mount Compass oak-bush, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to a restricted area of South Australia. It is a monoecious, rarely a dioecious shrub with erect branchlets up to 200 mm (7.9 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of five to seven, the fruiting cones 12–20 mm (0.47–0.79 in) long containing winged seeds about 5.5–6.0 mm (0.22–0.24 in) long.

References

  1. 1 2 "Allocasuarina decussata". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Karri oak". Forest products commission Western Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Allocasuarina decussata (Benth.) L.A.S.Johnson". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. 1 2 Wilson, Karen Louise; Johnson, Lawrence A.S. (1989). Flora of Australia (Volume 3) (PDF). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. pp. 142–143. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Casuarina decussata". APNI. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  6. ↑ "Flora australiensis:a description of the plants of the Australian territory /by George Bentham, assisted by Ferdinand Mueller". Biodiversity Heritage Library. pp. 200–201. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Allocasuarina decussata". APNI. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  8. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 255.
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