Casuarina cunninghamiana

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Casaurina cunninghamiana

Casuarina cunninghamiana and brumbies on the Macleay River, New South Wales

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Casuarinaceae
Genus:	Casuarina
Species:	C. cunninghamiana

Binomial name

Casaurina cunninghamiana

Casuarina cunninghamiana - River Oak , River Sheoak , Creek Oak or Fire Oak is a species of Casuarina, native to New South Wales and Queensland, Australia. The River Oak is an attractive evergreen tree with fine greyish green needle-like foliage that grows to a height of 30 metres with a spread of about 6 metres. The trunk is usually erect, with dense rough bark. Flowers are reddish-brown in the male and red in the female. Cones are small, rectangular and about 1 centimetre across.

Trees are usually found in sunny locations along stream banks and swampy areas. It’s widely recognized as an important tree for stabilizing riverbanks and for soil erosion prevention accepting wet and dry soils. The foliage is quite palatable to stock. Casuarina cunninghamiana is frost tolerant down to around -7 °C and is widely used effectively as a screening plant. It is useful on windy sites and is also suited to coastal areas. C. cunninghamiana has been introduced into several other countries for the purpose of soil stabilization.