''Allocasuarina distyla'', commonly known as scrub she-oak, is a shrub or small tree of the She-oak family
Casuarinaceae
The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacifi ...
endemic to
New South Wales
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, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Description
This dioecious
[ shrub or small tree will typically grow to a height of tall, or 7 metres (22 feet) in richer soils, and is found in coastal areas of New south Wales and southern Queensland.][ The ridges are angular to rounded and occasionally pubescent.][ There are 6–8 teeth.][ The spikes of male flowers are long with roughly 5 whorls of flowers per centimetre.][
The cones are up to long and often have a sterile apex. The samara is a very dark brown.][Wilson, K.L. & Johnson, L.A.S. (1990]
PlantNET New South Wales Flora online ''Allocasuarina distyla''
Retrieved 4 July 2018 This plant is dioecious, meaning that the male and female reproductive organs develop on different trees. The most common time this plant will flower is between the months of July through September, however, this may vary depending on rainfall. In Greek, 'allos' translates to 'other' and 'Casuarina' implies a comparison to 'foliage'. 'Di' translates to 'two' whereas 'stylos' translates to 'column'. These translations relate to the characteristics of this plant.
Taxonomy
The species was first described as ''Casuarina distyla'' by the botanist Étienne Pierre Ventenat
Étienne Pierre Ventenat (1 March 1757 – 13 August 1808) was a French botanist born in Limoges. He was the brother of naturalist Louis Ventenat (1765–1794).
While employed as director of the ecclesiastic library Sainte-Geneviève in Paris ...
in 1802 in the ''Description des Plantes Nouvelles et peu connues, cultivees dans le Jardin de J.M. Cels''.[Ventenat, E.P. (1802)]
Description des Plantes Nouvelles et peu connues, cultivees dans le Jardin de J.M. Cels 7: 62, t. 62
/ref> It was subsequently reclassified into the ''Allocasuarina'' genus by Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson
Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson FAA, (26 June 1925 – 1 August 1997) known as Lawrie Johnson, was an Australian taxonomic botanist. He worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, for the whole of his professional career, as a botanist (19 ...
in 1982 in a revision of the sheoaks, ''Notes on Casuarinaceae II.'', published in the ''Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens''.[Johnson, L.A.S. (1982), Notes on Casuarinaceae II. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 6(1): 7]
JSTOR
/ref>
Image gallery
File:Allocasuarina distyla Ku-ring-gai Chase.JPG
File:Young Fruit of Allocasuarina distyla.jpg
File:Allocasuarina distyla flowers 1.jpg
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2838498
Fagales of Australia
distyla
Flora of New South Wales
Plants described in 1802
Dioecious plants