Gymnostoma sumatranum

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Gymnostoma sumatranum
Gymnostoma sumatranum at Mounts Botanical Garden, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA 01.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Gymnostoma
Species:
G. sumatranum
Binomial name
Gymnostoma sumatranum
Synonyms [2]

Casuarina sumatranaJungh. ex de Vriese

Gymnostoma sumatranum is a tree in the she-oak family, Casuarinaceae, native to Southeast Asia and the Malesia region.

Contents

Range and habitat

According to Plants of the World Online, Gymnostoma sumatranum is endemic to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. [2] The IUCN Red List indicates a wider range for the species, including Sumatra, Java, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Maluku, New Guinea, the Bismark Archipelago, and the Solomon Islands. [1]

It grows in a range of habitats, including primary lowland, hill, and montane forests. It has been found on thin soil over limestone outcrops, in heath forests on poor sandy soils, and at the edges of river and swamp forests. It has also been found in DacrydiumTristaniaPodocarpus forest and montane forests dominated by trees of the beech family (Fagaceae). [1]

In Malaysia, G. sumatranum is known as Rhu Bukit — with bukit in Malaysian meaning "hill". The other common she-oak species in Malaysia is Casuarina equisetifolia known as Rhu laut - laut in Malaysian means "sea" and typically it grows along the seashore on sandy substrates. In Sarawak it is a protected species (5). G. sumatranum typically grows further inland. However, when occurring in coastal regions, it provides good indication that the soil is dry and out of the littoral and inundation zone since G. sumatranum will not normally tolerate sandy or boggy soil.

Description

Gymnostoma sumatranum is characterised by its multiple rounded umbrella-shaped crowns, while Casuarina equisetifolia (the most well-known member of Casuarinaceae) is typified by its equisetoid appearance. The roots have nitrogen-fixing nodules.

The stems are angular or tetrahedral in cross section (2). Like the other members of the family Casuarinaceae, they are characterized by drooping equisetoid (meaning "to look like Equisetum ") twigs, are evergreen, and monoecious or dioecious.

The foliage of this tropical angiosperm tree looks like that of gymnosperm pine trees which typically grow in temperate climates. The stomata are not restricted to sunken grooves (2).

The female inflorescences are borne terminally (2).

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The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Islands. At one time, all species were placed in the genus Casuarina. Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson separated out many of those species and renamed them into the new genera of Gymnostoma in 1980 and 1982, Allocasuarina in 1982, and Ceuthostoma in 1988, with some additional formal descriptions of new species in each other genus. At the time, it was somewhat controversial. The monophyly of these genera was later supported in a 2003 genetics study of the family. In the Wettstein system, this family was the only one placed in the order Verticillatae. Likewise, in the Engler, Cronquist, and Kubitzki systems, the Casuarinaceae were the only family placed in the order Casuarinales.

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<i>Casuarina glauca</i> Species of tree

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<i>Gymnostoma australianum</i> Species of tree in the family Casuarinaceae

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References

  1. Dilcher, D. L. et al.. (1990) Evolution of the Casuarinaceae: morphological comparisons of some extant species. American journal of Botany. 77(3): 338-355. 1990.
  2. P. S. Green, Klaus Kubitzki, E. Götz, K. U. Kramer. (1990) The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Published by springer. 404 pages
  3. Jane N. Prider and David C. Christophel Distributional ecology of Gymnostoma australianum (Casuarinaceae), a putative palaeoendemic of Australian wet tropic forests. Australian Journal of Botany 48(4) 427 - 434
  4. Barlow, B.A., (1983). Casuarina Ecology,. Management and Utilization. edited by S.J.Midgely. pp. 10–18
  5. Sarawak Forestry ordinance 1998