Casuarina Facts
Casuarina Facts
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| Interesting Casuarina Facts: |
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| Casuarina is an evergreen plant. It grows in the form of shrub or small tree that can reach 65 to 115 feet in height. |
| Casuarina has scaly leaves designed to prevent loss of water via transpiration (adaptation to the harsh environmental conditions in Australia). What look like leaves are actually branchlets, grayish-green photosynthetic branches. Microscopically small, teeth-like leaves are arranged in the whorls in between the nodes on branchlets. |
| Casuarina produces individual male and female flowers on the same (monoecious) or separate trees (dioecious), depending on the species. Male flowers look like pine needles with fuzzy ends (catkins-like inflorescence). Female flowers are small, reddish-brown colored and arranged in the flower heads. |
| Casuarina blooms during February and March. Flowers are designed for the pollination by wind. |
| Fruit of casuarina is woody, cone-shaped and filled with 70 to 90 winged seed. Casuarina produces hundreds of "cones" each year. |
| "Cones" filled with seed are important source of food for the birds such as black cockatoos, finches and rainbow lorikeets. |
| Wagtails, Pee Wees and Butcher (type of birds) nest among the branches of casuarina. |
| Fine texture of evergreen leaves and branchlets resembles the feathers of cassowary (type of bird), hence the name casuarina. |
| Casuarina was very popular and often planted in the streets and school yards in Australia in the past. It is mostly cultivated as windbreak and screen today. |
| Casuarina (root) releases allelopathic toxins which prevent growth of nearby plants. Thanks to these substances, casuarina easily conquers new areas and eliminates native plant species. |
| Casuarina increases fertility of the soil thanks to actinobacteria which live inside nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Actinobacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into plant-friendly type of nitrogen (nitrates). In return, casuarina provides food for actinobacteria. |
| Branchlets of casuarina are prized as excellent mulch due to high content of nitrogen. |
| Casuarina shelterbelts protect livestock from the strong winds. Wood of casuarina can be used as firewood and for the manufacture of particleboard and fence posts. |
| Aborigines used resin extracted from casuarina tree in their diet, in medical purposes and as adhesive. |
| Casuarina is perennial plant that can survive 40 to 50 years in the wild. |
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