''Allocasuarina littoralis'', commonly known as black sheoak, black she-oak, or river black-oak, is an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

medium-sized Australian tree (usually up to 8 metres, but sometimes to 15 metres - coarse shrub in exposed maritime areas). A. littoralis is named for its growth near the coast; this is somewhat misleading, as it will grow well both inland and in coastal zones. Studies have shown that in long-time unburnt coastal woodlands, ''A. littoralis'' has replaced the original ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as e ...

''-dominated woodland.

Description

This evergreen Casaurina tree is noted for its modified branchlets appearing to be leaves (5–8 cm long) and narrow width (no more than 4 mm) and the true leaves are, in fact minute (rarely larger than 1mm) and occur on the tips of the modified branchlets.Flora of Victoria (1999) It is a relatively fast growing tree (up to 800mm. a year) making it very suitable for planting along roadsides. The showy red female flowers appear in spring. It is usually dioecious.

Range

The species occurs in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

New South Wales ) , 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 ...

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It grows in woodland and sometimes in tall heath, and it grows in sandy and other poor soils.

References

External links

Occurrence data for ''Allocasuarina littoralis''
from The Australasian Virtual Herbarium {{Taxonbar, from=Q2838503 littoralis Trees of Australia Fagales of Australia Flora of Queensland Flora of New South Wales Flora of the Australian Capital Territory Flora of Victoria (Australia) Flora of Tasmania Dioecious plants