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Nomenclature etc. CASUARINACEAE. Other trade relvant species: Casuarina junghuhniana Miq., C. cunninghamiana Miq., C. glauca Sieber ex Spreng. The closely related genus Allocasuarina provides similar timbers. Trade and local names: ironwood, horsetail tree, beefwood, forest oak (AU); agoho (PH); ma wei shu (CN); kasuari (ID, MY); noko-noko (FJ); son-pradiphat (TH); cemara gunung, adjaob (ID); ru (MY);.
Description based on 7 specimens. Tree. Geographic distribution: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indomalesia, Pacific Islands, Australia (C. equisetifolia also cultivated worldwide).
General. Growth ring boundaries distinct or indistinct or absent. Heartwood basically brown, red (reddish brown to dark chocolate brown); with streaks or without streaks. Sapwood colour distinct from heartwood colour (light pinkish brown). Density 0.85–0.9–0.97 g/cm³.
Vessels. Wood diffuse porous. Vessels arranged in no specific pattern, exclusively solitary. Two distinct vessel diameter classes present, or absent. Average tangential vessel diameter (45–)105–120(–180) µm. Average number of vessels/mm² (4–)10–15(–19). Perforation plates simple. Average diameter (vertical) 4–5 µm (between vessels and tracheids). Vessel-ray pits with distinct borders or with reduced borders or apparently simple, similar to intervessel pits, horizontal to vertical. Tyloses present, thinwalled. Other deposits present.
Tracheids and fibres. Vascular or vasicentric tracheids commonly present. Fibres very thick-walled. Fibre pits common in both radial and tangential walls, distinctly bordered. Fibres non-septate.
Axial parenchyma. Axial parenchyma banded or not banded. Axial parenchyma bands forming a reticulate pattern with rays or much wider than rays. Bands fine or coarse. Axial parenchyma apotracheal. Apotracheal axial parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates. Axial parenchyma as strands. Average number of cells per strand: 3–8.
Rays. Rays 8–12 per tangential mm (only small ones), multiseriate, 1–3 cells wide (nur kleine only small ones). Aggregate rays present. Rays of two distinct sizes. Height of large rays up to 500 µm (nur kleine only small ones), or commonly over 1000 µm (up to several cm). Rays composed of a single cell type (homocellular); homocellular ray cells procumbent.
Mineral inclusions. Crystals present, prismatic, located in axial parenchyma cells. Crystal-containing axial parenchyma cells chambered. Number of crystals per cell or chamber one. Silica not observed.
Illustrations. • Transverse section 1. Casuarina equisetifolia. • Transverse section 2. Casuarina junghuhniana. • Tangential section 1. Casuarina equisetifolia. • Tangential section 2. Casuarina junghuhniana. • Radial section 1. Casuarina equisetifolia. • Radial section 2. Casuarina junghuhniana. • Crystals, fibre pits. Casuarina equisetifolia.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Richter, H.G., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2000 onwards. Commercial timbers: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. In English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Version: 9th April 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
