Allocasuarina decaisneana
Desert oak | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Casuarinaceae |
Genus: | Allocasuarina |
Species: | A. decaisneana
|
Binomial name | |
Allocasuarina decaisneana (
F.Muell.) L.A.S.Johnson[1] | |
Occurrence data from AVH | |
Synonyms[1] | |
Casuarina decaisneana F.Muell. |
Allocasuarina decaisneana, commonly known as desert oak, desert sheoak,
Description
Allocasuarina decaisneana is a dioecious tree that typically grows to 10–16 m (33–52 ft) high and 3–8 m (9.8–26.2 ft) wide. Its trunk has deeply furrowed, corky bark when mature. Its branchlets are drooping, up to 500 mm (20 in) long, the leaves reduced to erect, sharply pointed teeth 1.7–3.2 mm (0.067–0.126 in) long, arranged in whorls of four around the branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls (the "articles") are 20–60 mm (0.79–2.36 in) long and 0.7–1.5 mm (0.028–0.059 in) wide. Male flowers are arranged in spikes 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) long, in whorls of about ten per centimetre (per 0.39 in.), the anthers 0.7–0.8 mm (0.028–0.031 in) long. Female cones are cylindrical, often softly hairy when young, glabrous when mature and on a peduncle 5–15 mm (0.20–0.59 in) long. Mature cones are 28–95 mm (1.1–3.7 in) long and 20–35 mm (0.79–1.38 in) in diameter with a pointed tip on the bracteoles. The cones are the largest in the genus Allocasuarina, and the samaras are 8.5–17 mm (0.33–0.67 in) long. Flowering occurs in most months and cones are present on the tree throughout the year.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Taxonomy
This species was first formally described in 1858 by
Distribution and habitat
Desert oak mainly grows in the swales between sand dunes in red sand. It is mainly found in the arid lands of the south of the Northern Territory, but is also common in inland Western Australia east of Billiluna to the Mann and Musgrave Ranges in the far north-west of South Australia.[6] It is the only member of its family to occur in these areas, apart from Casuarina glauca that has been introduced in some of these areas.[2][3][5][6]
Ecology
The branchlets of A. decaisneana, also known as
Uses
The tree was useful to
In popular culture
The Aboriginal Community in Oak Valley, South Australia, on the southern edge of the Great Victoria Desert was established in 1985 for Anangu people displaced from Maralinga lands following nuclear weapons testing, takes its name from the tree.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Allocasuarina decaisneana". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Allocasuarina decaisneana". Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ a b c "Allocasuarina decaisneana". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ Parks Australia. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ a b c d "Allocasuarina decaisneana". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- Alice Springs Town Council. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Casuarina decaisneana". APNI. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ von Mueller, Ferdinand (1858). Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae. Vol. 1. Melbourne: Victorian Government Printer. p. 61. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ "Allocasuarina decaisneana". APNI. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ a b Stephanie Jackson (4 September 2015). "The Oak Of The Desert". On The Road Magazine.
- ^ I.A.E. Bayly (1999). "Review of how indigenous people managed for water in desert regions of Australia" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.
- ^ "Aboriginal Plant Use Trail". Australian National Botanic Gardens. 23 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- ^ "Our Community". Maralinga Tjarutja South Australia. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
Further reading
- John W. Wrigley and Murray Fagg (1997). Australian Native Plants. 4th edition, Reed.
- "Australian Flora". Australian Explorer. Retrieved 3 August 2009.