Casuarina glauca Siebold ex Spreng., Casuarinaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: gray sheoak, long-leaf ironwood, longleaf ironwood, saltmarsh ironwood, swamp oak, swamp she-oak

French: filao multipliant

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Trees usually 15-18 m tall; branches long, coarse, usually glaucous.  Leaf sheaths with 9-18 teeth.  Staminate spikes densely flowered, ca. 2.5 cm long, bracts pubescent, especially at base.  Cones subglobose, flat-topped, ca. 0.7-1.3 cm in diameter, the valves prominent, protruding ca. 1-1.5 mm, pubescent, apex obtuse.  Nuts ca. 4.7-5 mm long (including wing)." (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 529)

Habitat/ecology:  This species is very similar to Casuarina equisetifolia. However, it forms suckers prolifically, producing dense stands. It is the most aggressive ironwood in Hawai‘i (Smith, 1985; p. 187).  "Coastal beaches, sandy banks.  In the native range, this tree occurs on saline swamp flats, on estuarine floodplains, wetland forests and along salt marshes.  The tree is nitrogen-fixing and not as salt tolerant as [Casuarina equisetifolia].  The tree produces large amounts of litter that prevent the growth and establishment of native species"  (Weber, 2003; p. 89).

Propagation:  Wind-borne seed; suckers profusely.

Native range:  Eastern and southern Australia.

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
American Samoa Tutuila Islands	Tutuila Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2000) (p. 33)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 19) "A native of Australia (eastern N.S.W. and Qld) which has been introduced on the Islands and, with its tendency to sucker, has become naturalised". Vouchers cited: I. Hutton 592 (K), I. Hutton 593 (K)
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 8) "A native of Australia (eastern N.S.W. and Qld) which has been introduced on the Islands and, with its tendency to sucker, has become naturalised. The plants on Norfolk Is. are reported to be male only". Voucher cited: G. Uhe 1229 (K)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (p. 3) Voucher cited: P.M. Burch L107 (BISH 579940) Spreading by root sprouts.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (p. 3) Vouchers cited: W.L. Wagner, C. Imada & W. Takeuchi 5856 (BISH 529839), Oppenheimer H99906 (BISH) Spreading vegetatively.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 529)
Kiribati Phoenix Islands	Kanton Island	introduced cultivated	Fosberg, F. R./Stoddart, D. R. (1994) (pp. 16-17) Vouchers cited: Degener 21372, Fosberg 30876 (US), Clapp P-71-11 (US), Fosberg & Stoddart 54777 (US, HAW, K)
Kiribati Phoenix Islands	Kanton Island	introduced	Luomala, Katharine (1951) (p. 172) Voucher cited: Luomala 37
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Midway Atoll	Midway Atoll	introduced invasive cultivated	Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2002) (p. 19) Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 990511-1 (BISH)

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)	Queensland	native	Australian Biological Resources Study (2007)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 512) "Shingle pits and sandy banks, cemeteries". Known from only 3 collections.

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	Lavergne, Christophe (2006) "Naturalisé/±envahissant"

Comments:  A non-native Casuarina that is a pest in Hawai‘i.

Control:  See control methods for Casuarina equisetifolia.

Additional information:  Environmental Stewardship Abstract from The Nature Conservancy.
Photos and additional information at University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.
Photos and additional information at the Environment Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, web site of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (see thumbnails above).
Information on this species from "Silvics of North American", USDA Agriculture Handbook 654.
Information from the Purdue University NewCROP web site.
Fact sheet from "Common forest trees of Hawaii" (PDF format).
Information from the World Agroforestry Centre's AgroForestryTree Database.

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

Taxonomic information about Casuarina glauca 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.

Fosberg, F. R./Stoddart, D. R. 1994. Flora of the Phoenix Islands, central Pacific. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. Atoll Research Bulletin 393. 60 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.

Luomala, Katharine. 1951. Plants of Canton Island, Phoenix Islands. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 20(11):157-174.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2000. Preliminary review of the invasive plants in the Pacific islands (SPREP Member Countries). In: Sherley, G. (tech. ed.). Invasive species in the Pacific: A technical review and draft regional strategy. South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, Samoa. 190 pp.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. 2000. New plant records from Maui, O‘ahu, and the Hawai‘i Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:1-10.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Smith, Clifford W. 1985. Impact of Alien Plants on Hawai‘i's Native Biota. In: Stone, Charles P. and Scott, J. Michael, eds. Hawai‘i's terrestrial ecosystems: preservation and Management. Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2000. Observations on invasive plant species in American Samoa.  USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 51 pp.

Starr, Forest/Martz, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2002. New plant records from the Hawaiian archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 69:16-27.

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

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.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.