Casuarina

views updated May 17 2018

Casuarina (family Casuarinaceae) A genus of xeromorphic trees in which the twigs are slender, cylindrical, green, and grooved with whorls of minute scale leaves at the nodes. The flowers are tiny, borne in compound spikes, and become woody in the fruit, like small cones. They are wind-pollinated. The roots have nitrogen-fixing nodules. The genus may perhaps be related to the Hamamelidaceae. There are 4 genera and about 70 species, occurring from the Mascarenes to Polynesia, with most species in Australia.

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