obesa Swamp sheoak

Male flowers

Female flowes & seed cones

Avon Catchment Council Casuarina obesa Swamp sheoak

Plant features Growth form Erect , 1.5-10m tall with a width of 4m. There are separate male and female . Leaves There are long, slender, grey-green needles which act as leaves. The true leaves are actually small scales located in whorls of 12- CASUARINACEAE 15 around each joint of the needles. The gap between each whorl is 5-15mm. Flowers The male inflorescence is cylindrical, 10-40mm long, located on the end of needles and composed of tiny orange flowers. The female inflorescence is a globular spike coming off the main stem. The flowers are seen only as tiny reddish fringing filaments. Can flower throughout the year. Fruits The fruit is a pale to dark brown globular cone,10-22m long and 10-30mm wide. The seed is held individually in numerous valves located in concentric rings around the cone. The seeds are 5-7mm long, straw to grey colour with translucent wings with a visible line running down the wing. Bark Coarse, fissured, dark brown bark over the entire tree.

Distribution Found from the Murchison River to Floodfringe

east of Albany and inland to the Floodway

goldfields and near Wiluna. Normal winter level

Zone, habitat Prefered habitat of Casuarina obesa Occurs in floodways of swamps, creeks, rivers, estuaries and other brackish to saline winter wet depressions. Grows on a variety of soil types. Additional information An easily grown tree that is useful on a range of brackish to saline waterbodies. Very salt and waterlogging tolerant. It is often the dominant canopy species and will produce copious seedlings in areas where there is no grazing, Can be grown from tubestock or direct seeded. It can provide important faunal shelter. Its shallow roots also help stabilise wetland soils as well as trapping sediment and slowing the speed of floodwaters and therefore decreasing erosion. Collect seed all year round from mature unopened cones.