Allocasuarina verticillata

Drooping Sheoak at Majura, ACT

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Identification history

Allocasuarina verticillata	10 Aug 2023	Tapirlord
Allocasuarina verticillata	9 Aug 2023	abread111
Unidentified	9 Aug 2023	Evie

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User's notes

This flower spike was in seed and to my eye, quite beautiful. No idea what type of plant it is.

9 comments

waltraud wrote:

9 Aug 2023

Perhaps a flower spike of a Lomandra? unfortunately photo shows only a bit of a plant; Lomandras have strap like leaves.
It cant be flower and seed at the same time ...

Evie wrote:

9 Aug 2023

Thanks. I probs should have said seed spike then.

waltraud wrote:

9 Aug 2023

It looks to me like the male flower spike of a Allocasuarina verticillata,
see Allocasuarina verticillata (Drooping Sheoak)
Particularly stem and arrangement of flowers on stem; seems the flowers have already released pollen.

abread111 wrote:

9 Aug 2023

I agree with Waltraud's second suggestion. The colour is quite interesting - usually the pollen makes it look more yellow.

waltraud wrote:

10 Aug 2023

Barb the empty flowers look more orange brownish when the yellow pollen are blown out (she-oaks are wind pollinated). The branch tips with male flower of A. verticillata are often found on ground under the parent (father) tree.

Evie wrote:

10 Aug 2023

I don't think it was A verticillata because it was very thick and growing up from the ground. It didn't have a spiky appearance and was about 50cm height, so not sure it was Lomandras either. When the weather is better (raining today), I will go back and see if I can find it again and get more information about its leaves and growing position. Thank you for your interest and care.

abread111 wrote:

10 Aug 2023

Evie, look at Allocasuarina verticillata (Drooping Sheoak) and you will see why we think it is the drooping sheoak male flower - same striations on the stem, same arrangement of pollen sacs....

Evie wrote:

10 Aug 2023

I so do! it looks very like that. Although those are fine in structure, this was upright and robust. I might be mistaken in my memory so will check back in once I have more information. I will definitely need to take notes or more pics in future. Thx.

waltraud wrote:

10 Aug 2023

Hi Evie, the stem on which the flowers are attached is revealing.
It might be that it got stuck somehow in the ground; the size of 50cm is big.
If you find it again I suggest to check whether it is just stuck in the ground and to check whether there are Casuarinas around; perhaps take a photo with an item of known length; fingers are also good for scale. If you take a photo of a plant it would be good to take a photo of whole plant including leaves particularly if you think it is something special and unusual; sometimes it requires to bend surrounding vegetation away.
The only herbaceous plant species that have no green leaf tissue are parasites (they don't photosynthesize and get their sugars = carbon = energy from their host plant) such as Orobanche minor (introduced) or the orchid Dipodium sps.

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Location information

Coordinates 149.182002 -35.244246
Maps Mount Majura
Places Majura, ACT

Sighting information

2 Abundance
9 Aug 2023 02:29 PM Recorded on
Evie Recorded by

Additional information

30cm to 1 metre Plant height

Species information

Allocasuarina verticillata Scientific name
Drooping Sheoak Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-Invasive
Up to 1081.18m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
In flower

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Confirmed by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes