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Casuarina littoralis

Common name:	She Oak	Family:	Casuarinaceae
Author:	Salisb.	Botanical references:	200, 265
Synonyms:	Casuarina suberosa (Otto.& Dietr.), Allocasuarina littoralis ((Salisb.)L.Johnson.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Australia - New South Wales, Tasmania.
Habitat:	Sandy coastal heaths[200], especially on poor sandstone soils[167]. Widespread on heath and in open forests[265].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	littoralis = of the sea shore littoral
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Casuarinales. She-oak family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen tree growing to 8m. It is hardy to zone 9. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy, Secondary, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Wood.

Wood - hard, durable. Used for veneer and joinery, it is also an excellent fuel[167].

Cultivation details

Requires a well-drained moisture-retentive soil in full sun[200]. This species is often found growing in poor dry soils in the wild[167, 200]. Judging by the plants native habitat, it is likely to tolerate maritime exposure[K].
This species is not very frost tolerant, but it might succeed outdoors in the milder maritime areas of the country[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil micro-organisms, these form nodules on the roots of the plants and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[157, 200].
The bark is rarely corky, in spite of its synonym (suberosa means corky)[1].

Propagation

Seed - sow late winter to early summer in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed[138]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[157, 200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Allocasuarina littoralis (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for the family Casuarinaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[157] Wrigley. J. W. and Fagg. M. Australian Native Plants. Collins. (Australia) 1988 ISBN 0-7322-0021-0
A lovely book, written in order to encourage Australian gardeners to grow their native plants. A little bit of information for the plant project.

[167] Holliday. I. and Hill. R. A Field Guide to Australian Trees. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1974 ISBN 0-85179-627-3
A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[265] Carolin. R. & Tindale. M. Flora of the Sydney Region Reed. Australia. 1993 ISBN 0730104001
Concise flora with little beyond an extensive key, species descriptions, very brief habitat description.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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