Casuarina glauca

Description: Casuarinas are often called “native pines” because their foliage bears a similarity to pine needles. Individual plants are either male or female, but unlike the conifers they bear resemblance to they are in fact true flowering plants. The Casuarinaceae family is native to Australia, southeast Asia and islands of the Pacific.

Botanical Name Casuarina glauca

Common Name: she-oak

Family: Casuarinaceae

Height: medium-sized tree 10-15 m tall, occasionally reaching 25 m

Foliage: The leaves, or “teeth”, are very small and form rings at intervals along the stems, which are the chlorophyll containing and photosynthetic parts of the plant. Wax covered and deeply grooved, they provide the plant with attributes to withstand drying environments, such as coastal heath.

Flower: Male flowers appear as 4-7 cm long, light-green spikes. Female flowers are sma dark red, and inconspicuous. Males trees flower at 2-3 years of age and female trees produce fruits one year later. Trees fruit mainly in autumn,

Treatment: Pests may include fruit emulating gall “coccoids” and Cuckoo Spit scale in Queensland. Perna exposita is a hairy brown caterpillar that can ringbark stems with its feeding habits. They drop to the ground when disturbed, so beating the shrub to collect caterpillars for removal may be all that's required to control these pests in a garden setting.