Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq., Casuarinaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 12 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: xi zhi mu ma huang

English: cunninghamia beefwood, gray sheoak, river oak, river she-oak, small cone ironwood

French: filao de Nouvelle-Hollande, filao des Hauts

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Tree 15-35 m high. Bark finely fissured and scaly, grey-brown. Teeth on new shoots erect. Branchlets drooping in vigorous specimens, erect in depauperate specimens; articles 4-9 mm long, 0.4-0.7 mm diam., mostly glabrous; edges of furrows often marked (when dry) by a slight ridge; phyllichnia angular to flat with a median rib; teeth 6-10, erect, 0.3-0.5 mm long, marcescent or not. Male spikes 0.4-4 cm long, 11-13 whorls per cm; anther 0.4-0.7 mm long. Cones sparsely pubescent; peduncle 2-9 mm long; cone body 7-14 mm long, 4-6 mm diam.; bracteoles broadly acute to acute. Samara 3-4 mm long." (George, 1989; p. 106)

"Trees to over 20 m tall, often planted at higher (1,000-2,000 m) altitudes; green branchlets with internodes averaging 3-6 mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm thick, very sparsely puberulent with minute whitish hairs 0.03-0.1 mm long. Leaves scale-like, in whorls of usually 8 (7 to 10), free distal portion 0.3-0.5 mm long, acute. Male spikes about 2 cm long and 1 mm thick; female cones 6-10 mm thick at maturity; the samara 3-5 mm long, grayish brown, with the wing becoming twice as long as the body of the fruit" (Berger, 1971; p. 4).

Habitat/ecology:  "Grows along permanent streams" (George, 1989; p. 106).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Australia, naturalized elsewhere (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Cook Islands	Cook Islands		McCormack, Gerald (2011)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawaiian Islands	introduced cultivated	Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. (2000) (p. 19)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 73) Cultivated, roadside tree.
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive cultivated	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 511) Known from one site only...established on a bank near a shelter belt of the same species.
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 24) Cultivated only

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. (1991) (pp. 51-61)
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced cultivated	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Cultivé/subspontanée"
La Réunion (France) La Réunion Island	La Réunion Island	introduced invasive	Baret, Stephane/Rouget, Mathieu/Richardson, David M./Lavergne, Christophe/Egoh, Benis/Dupont, Joel/Strasberg, Dominique (2006) (p. 758)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
South Africa South Africa	South Africa (Republic of)	introduced	Henderson, Lesley (1995)
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Control:  See control methods for Casuarina equisetifolia.

Additional information:
Fact sheet on the species from the Purdue University NewCrop website.
Fact sheet from "Common forest trees of Hawaii" (PDF format).
Fact sheet from Florabank.
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.
Information from the Bugwood Wiki.
Information from the USDA Tropical Tree Seed Manual (PDF format).

Additional online information about Casuarina cunninghamiana is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Casuarina cunninghamiana as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Casuarina cunninghamiana may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2011. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

Baret, Stephane/Rouget, Mathieu/Richardson, David M./Lavergne, Christophe/Egoh, Benis/Dupont, Joel/Strasberg, Dominique. 2006. Current distribution and potential extent of the most invasive alien plant species on La Réunion (Indian Ocean, Mascarene islands). Austral Ecology (2006) 31, 747-758.

Berger, W. C. 1971. Flora Costaricensis, family 40, Casuarinaceae. Fieldiana, Botany 35.

Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. 2009. A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species. Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore. 273 pp.

George, A. S., ed. 1989. Flora of Australia. Vol. 3, Hamamelidales to Casuarinales. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. .

Henderson, Lesley. 1995. Plant invaders of Southern Africa. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 5, Agriculture Research Council, ARC/LNR, Pretoria, South Africa. 177 pp.

Lavergne, Christophe. 2006. List des especes exotiques envahissantes a La Reunion. Unpublished manuscript (Excel file). .

Little, Elbert L./Skolmen, Roger G. 1989. Common forest trees of Hawaii (native and introduced). USDA Agriculture Handbook 679. Washington, D.C. 377 pp. + plates.

MacDonald, I. A. W./Thebaud, C./Strahm, W. A./Strasberg, D. 1991. Effects of alien plant invasions on native vegetation remnants on La Reunion (Mascarenes Islands, Indian Ocean). Environmental Conservation 18 (1):51-61.

McCormack, Gerald. 2011. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Staples, George W./Herbst, Derral/Imada, Clyde T. 2000. Survey of invasive or potentially invasive cultivated plants in Hawai‘i. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers No. 65. 35 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).