OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia   FAMILY Casuarinaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Casuarina equisetifolia   FAMILY Casuarinaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Casuarina equisetifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America

Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Casuarina equisetifolia

 

COMMON NAME:
Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

W.D. Brush / USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database    pnd_caeq_010_lvp

        

Male flowers are borne in slender cylindrical spikes at the twig tips, per www.wiki.bugwood.org.

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

W.D. Brush / USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database    pnd_caeq_011_lvp

        

Female flowers occur in lateral heads on non-shedding branchlets, per www.wiki.bugwood.org.

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Dan Clark, USDI National Park Service, Bugwood.org    bug_5281019

Month Unknown        

Its very slender green twigs resemble pine needles, but it is not a pine, per Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007).

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Dan Clark, USDI National Park Service, Bugwood.org    bug_5281021

Month Unknown        

Peak bloom in April, a lesser one in September. Some fruit present any time, per Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007).

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org    bug_5285005

Month Unknown        HI

Reported for AL in 2012, "definitely naturalized and suckering", per Weakley's Flora (2015).

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Forest and Kim Starr, Starr Environmental, Bugwood.org    bug_5285045

Month Unknown        FL

Can grow 10' in a year, and in 5 years is producing thousands of seeds, per Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007).

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org    bug_5446281

Month Unknown        

Shallow-rooted and inhibiting the growth of native dune-stabilizing plants, per Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007).

image of Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia, Australian-pine, Horsetail Casuarina, Beach She-oak, Coastal She-oak

Christina Southwick, Dried Botanical ID, USDA APHIS ITP, Bugwood.org     bug_5463792

Month Unknown        

Half-inch fruits look like rounded cones and contain 70-90 light flat seeds, per Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007).

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia   FAMILY Casuarinaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Casuarina equisetifolia   FAMILY Casuarinaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Casuarina equisetifolia

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Casuarina equisetifolia ssp. equisetifolia

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Casuarina equisetifolia

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

3833

Tree
Perennial
Monoecious

Habitat: beaches, dunes, suburban areas, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Non-native: Malaysia, southern Asia, Oceania

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.


Invasive?

This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:

 

LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple - needle-like

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Red?
Unisexual

FRUIT:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
Brown
A tiny, one-seeded, winged nutlet (samara), formed in woody cone-like clusters

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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