CASUARINA, k5zWA-a-ri'nit (Neo-Lat., from casuorinx, cassowary, from Dutch kasuaar, Ma lay kassuiraris. so called from the resemblance of the brdnches to the feathers of the bird). A genus of the order The trees of this genus are almost exclusively Australian. however. Casuarina equisclifolia is found in the South Sea Islands, the Indian Archipelago. the Malayan Peninsula. and on the east side of the Bay of Bengal, as far north as Arraean. and Casuarina Sumairana grows in the Philippine Islands. Sonic of them are large trees. produc ing timber of excellent quality. hard and heavy, as the beefwood of the Australian colonists, so called from the resemblance in color to raw ',eel. Casuarina equisrafolia is called in Aus tralia the swamp-oak. It is a lofty tree, attain ing a height of 150 feet. the tog or aiioa of the Society Islands, where it grows chiefly on the sides of hills, and where its wood was formerly used for clubs and other implements of war. It has been introduced into India. w here it grows rapidly upon even poor. sandy soil, and where it is much valued, as its wood hears a great strain and is not readily injured by submersion in water. The hardness and durability of this wood led the earlier voyagers to the South Sea Islands to designate it ironwood. Casuarina
rirta is the 'coast she-oak' of New' South Wales. In Australia, where the Casuarinas abound, they are considered among the most valuable trees. For the most part, the wood is hard, compact, yet easily worked, and is used in many kinds of building. for cab inet-work. etc- The foliage of most. if not all, species is of an acid nature. and is often chewed to allay thirst. In periods of drought stock eat considerable quantities of the foliage. The first-mentioned species has been quite success fully introduced into parts of Florida and Cali fornia. 'Cassowary-tree' is a popular generic mime of the Casuarinas. Some of the species are scrubby bushes. All of thou have a very peculiar appearance, their branches being long, slender, wiry, drooping, green, and jointed, with very small. scale-like sheaths instead of leaves. They resemble arhorescent equisetums, or horse-tail rushes. The fruit consists of hardened bracts, collected in a cone and inelosing small winged nnts. The flowers have neither calyx nor corol la: the stamens and pistils are on separate flowers. More than twenty species are known.