Common Name: Drooping She Oak

General Information

Allocasuarina verticillata is an evergreen tree that can grow around 4 - 10 metres tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of materials..

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Australia - Tasmania, Victoria., New South Wales, South Australia

Habitat

Calcareous sands by the coast, inland on poor rocky soils and on sand overlying clay[]. Also found in usually grassy woodland, forming pure stands or amongst eucalypts[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	10.00 m
Pollinators	Wind
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Allocasuarina verticillata tolerates temperatures down to at least -7°c in Australian gardens[] although this cannot be translated directly to British gardens due to our cooler summers and longer, colder and wetter winters. It should succeed outdoors in the mildest maritime areas of this country.
Requires a well-drained moisture-retentive soil in full sun[]. Often found in poor dry soils in the wild[]. Succeeds in most soils and aspects in Australian gardens. Tolerates salt spray and maritime exposure.
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil micro-organisms, these form nodules on the roots of the plants and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[].

Edible Uses

In cases of severe thirst, great relief may be obtained from chewing the foliage of this and other species in the genus, which, being of an acid nature, produces a flow of saliva - a fact well-known to bushmen who have traversed waterless portions of the country. This acid is closely allied to citric acid, and may prove identical with it[].
Children chew the young cones, which they call 'oak apples'[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The wood is tough but not durable[, , ]. A very handsome wood, though the heart-wood is darker and less handsome than the other portions. The wood is of a reddish colour, and has dark bands running through it, chiefly in a longitudinal direction, which gives to the polished wood a fine mottled appearance, rendering it very suitable for the manufacture of furniture. It is also used in turnery, and for such articles as bullock-yokes, wheelspokes, axe-handles, staves, shingles, etc[].
As fuel, the wood can hardly be excelled[].
The wood yields 27% of charcoal, 43% of crude wood-vinegar, and 7% of tar[]..

Propagation

Seed - sow late winter to early summer in a greenhouse and only just cover the seed[]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, mid summer in a frame[, ].