Casuarina cunninghamiana Miq., Casuarinaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

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

Common name(s): [more details]

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 (2007)
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 (2007)
Australia Australia (continental)	Northern Territory	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2007)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2007)
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.

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"

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)

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

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

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

References:

Australian Biological Resources Study. 2007. Flora of Australia Online. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra.

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

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. 2007. Cook Islands biodiversity and natural heritage. On-line database.

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. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

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.