Casuarina obesa

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Casuarina obesa
Casuarina obesa.jpg
Near Paynes Find
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Casuarina
Species:
C. obesa
Binomial name
Casuarina obesa
Male spikes Casuarina obesa (6102944352).jpg
Male spikes
Mature cone Casuarina obesa - Flickr - Kevin Thiele (1).jpg
Mature cone

Casuarina obesa, commonly known as swamp she-oak, swamp oak or western swamp oak, [2] or as goolee, kweela, kwerl and quilinock by the Noongar peoples, [3] is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a dioecious small tree or shrub that forms root suckers, and has drooping or spreading branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 12 to 16, the fruit 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long.

Contents

Description

Casuarina obesa is a dioecious shrub or small tree that typically grows to a height of 3–15 m (9.8–49.2 ft) and has corky, deeply fissured bark. The branchlets are drooping or spreading to erect, up to 300 mm (12 in) long, the leaves reduced to scale-like teeth 0.3–1 mm (0.012–0.039 in) long, arranged in whorls of 12 to 16 around the branchlets and erect on new shoots. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls (the "articles") are 8–14 mm (0.31–0.55 in) long and 0.9–1.4 mm (0.035–0.055 in) wide. The flowers on male trees are arranged in whorls of 7 to 10 per centimetre (per 0.39 in.), the spikes 15–60 mm (0.59–2.36 in) long, the anthers 0.6–1.2 mm (0.024–0.047 in) long. The female cones are sessile or on a peduncle up to 10 mm (0.39 in) long. Mature cones are cylindrical, 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long and 10–15 mm (0.39–0.59 in) in diameter, the samaras 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) long. [2] [4] [5] [6] [7]

This species is the western and inland variant of C. glauca , but differs in having erect teeth on new shoots. It also hybridises with C. pauper in Western Australia. [4]

Taxonomy

Casuarina obesa was first formally described in 1845 by Friedrich Miquel in Lehmann's Plantae Preissianae . [8] [9] The specific epithet, (obesa) means "fat", "stout" or "plump". [10]

Distribution and habitat

Swamp she-oak grows in moist, often brackish or saline places along watercourses and near salt lakes. It is widespread and common in the south-west of Western Australia, with a much more restricted occurrence in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. [2] [6] [5] [11]

Conservation status

Casuarina obesa is listed as "endangered" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and as "critically endangered" under the Victorian Government Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 . The main threats to the species include grazing by livestock and rabbits, weed invasion and land clearing. [6] [7]

Usage

This species is widely planted for agroforestry, particularly in salt-affected areas, and as a street tree. [7]

Related Research Articles

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

Casuarina equisetifolia, commonly known as coastal she-oak, horsetail she-oak, beach sheoak, beach casuarina or whistling tree is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is native to Australia, New Guinea, Southeast Asia and India. It is a small to medium-sized, monoecious tree with scaly or furrowed bark on older specimens, drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 7 or 8, the fruit 10–24 mm (0.39–0.94 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 6–8 mm (0.24–0.31 in) long.

<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>Casuarina</i> Genus of trees

Casuarina is a genus of flowering plants in the family Casuarinaceae, and is native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. Plants in the genus Casuarina are monoecious or dioecious trees with green, pendulous, photosynthetic branchlets, the leaves reduced to small scales arranged in whorls around the branchlets, the male and female flowers arranged in separate spikes, the fruit a cone containing grey or yellowish-brown winged seeds.

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

Allocasuarina huegeliana, commonly known as rock sheoak or sighing sheoak, is a tree in the family Casuarinaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs mostly throughout the Wheatbelt region. It is now especially common on road verges, where it sometimes forms thickets.

<i>Taxandria juniperina</i> Species of tree

Taxandria juniperina commonly known as wattie, native cedar, Warren River cedar or juniper myrtle is a species of tree that grows in the south west corner of Western Australia. This plant was previously classified as Agonis juniperina but is now part of the genus Taxandria. The Noongar peoples know the tree as watti.

<i>Grevillea curviloba</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to Western Australia

Grevillea curviloba is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a prostrate to erect shrub with short branchlets, divided leaves with linear to narrowly lance-shaped lobes with the narrower end towards the base, and white to cream-coloured flowers.

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

Allocasuarina distyla, commonly known as scrub she-oak, is a shrub or small tree of the She-oak family Casuarinaceae endemic to New South Wales.

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

Casuarina cunninghamiana, commonly known as river oak, river sheoak or creek oak, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is native to Australia and New Guinea. It is a tree with fissured and scaly bark, sometimes drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 6 to 10, the fruit 7–14 mm (0.28–0.55 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 3–4 mm (0.12–0.16 in) long.

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

Casuarina glauca, commonly known as swamp she-oak, swamp buloke, swamp she-oak, marsh sheoak, grey she-oak, grey she-oak or guman by the Gadigal people, is a species of flowering plant that is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a dioecious tree that often forms root suckers and has fissured and scaly bark, spreading or drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 12 to 20, the fruit 9–18 mm (0.35–0.71 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 3.5–5.0 mm (0.14–0.20 in) long.

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

Allocasuarina verticillata, commonly known as drooping she-oak or drooping sheoak, is a nitrogen fixing native tree of southeastern Australia.

<i>Xanthorrhoea preissii</i> Species of flowering plant

Xanthorrhoea preissii, known as balga, is a widespread species of perennial monocot in Southwest Australia.

<i>Casuarina pauper</i> Species of plant

Casuarina pauper, commonly known as black oak, belah or kariku, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is a dioecious tree with fissured or scaly bark, waxy branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 9 to 13, the fruit 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 5.5–7.0 mm (0.22–0.28 in) long.

<i>Grevillea huegelii</i> Species of shrub in the family Proteaceae endemic to southern Australia

Grevillea huegelii, commonly known as comb spider-flower or comb grevillea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Proteaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. It is an erect to low-lying shrub with divided leaves with mostly three to eleven sharply-pointed linear lobes, and clusters of red to pink flowers that are silky-hairy on the outside.

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

Casuarina cristata, commonly known as belah or muurrgu, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to inland eastern Australia. It is a tree with fissured or scaly bark, sometimes drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of 8 to 12, the fruit 13–18 mm (0.51–0.71 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 6.0–10.5 mm (0.24–0.41 in) long.

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

Allocasuarina thuyoides, commonly known as the horned sheoak, is a shrub of the genus Allocasuarina native to a large area in the Mid West, Wheatbelt, South West and Goldfields-Esperance regions of Western Australia.

<i>Hakea preissii</i> Species of plant in the family Proteaceae native to Western Australia

Hakea preissii, commonly known as the needle tree, needle bush and Christmas hakea, is a shrub or tree of the genus Hakea native to Western Australia. The Noongar name for the plant is Tanjinn.

<i>Kunzea pauciflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Kunzea pauciflora, the Mount Melville kunzea, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, and is endemic to a small area on the south coast of Western Australia. It is a shrub with the stems densely branched near their ends, linear leaves and one, two or three pink flowers near the ends of the branches but usually only at the top of the shrub.

<i>Dillwynia brunioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Dillwynia brunioides, commonly known as sandstone parrot-pea, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is an erect shrub with silky-hairy stems, linear, grooved leaves and yellow flowers with red markings.

<i>Bossiaea pulchella</i> Species of legume

Bossiaea pulchella is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a slender, erect shrub with egg-shaped leaves, and orange-yellow, purplish brown and dark red flowers.

<i>Gompholobium shuttleworthii</i> Species of legume

Gompholobium shuttleworthii is a species of flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is an erect shrub with pinnate leaves with five to nine leaflets, and pink or purple flowers with some darker markings.

References

  1. "Casuarina obesa". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson, Karen L.; Johnson, Lawrence A.S. "Casuarina obesa". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  3. "Noongar names for plants". kippleonline.net. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Casuarina obesa". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Casuarina obesa". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Entwisle, Timothy J. "Casuarina obesa". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Swamp She-oak - profile". Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  8. "Casuarina obesa". APNI. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  9. Meissner, Carl (1845). Lehmann, Johann G.C. (ed.). Plantae Preissianae. Vol. 1. Hamburg: Sumptibus Meissneri. p. 640. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  10. William T. Stearn (1992). Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary (4th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 454.
  11. "Casuarina obesa". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.