Casuarina

Casuarina is a genus of trees of the family Casuarinaceae. The genus includes 17 species from Australasia, South East Asia and its islands of the western Pacific Ocean. Once considered the only genus of the family, it is now one of the three genres (Casuarinaceae).

Description

Casuarina species are shrubs or trees up to 35 meters tall evergreen. The foliage consists of many branches of fine twigs green or gray-green leaves, bearing minute scales.

The flowers are grouped in catkins, the male flowers in simple spikes, the female flowers on short stalks.

Most species are dioecious, but some are monoecious. The fruit is a woody, resembling a conifer cone made up of numerous carpels, each containing a single seed with a little wing.

The Casuarinas are a food source for caterpillars of Hepialidae; Aenetus the genus, including A. lewinii and A. splendens, burrow horizontally into the trunk then vertically down. Endoclita malabaricus also feeds on Casuarina. The Agrotis also feeds on Casuarina.



Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casuarina

See Also: International Flower Delivery, Florist