Black She-oak at Watson, ACT
Identification history
| Allocasuarina littoralis | 30 Aug 2022 | MichaelMulvaney | ||
| Allocasuarina littoralis | 30 Aug 2022 | waltraud |
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User's notes
Mature tree with fissured bark; female flowers. The first photo shows fruit (cone) with open valves, fruit about 25mm long with a flat top, diameter approx 20mm; the second photo show cladodes with whorls of translucent leaf-teeth about 8 or less in a whorl.
location of tree just approximate; I will correct the coordinates asap.
8 comments
MichaelMulvaney
wrote:
30 Aug 2022
Thanks Waltraud do you think it was planted or naturally occurring here?
waltraud
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
Michael
I think it had been planted long time ago given its age; there are (or have been) many other exotic species in the area close by which have been clearly planted such as Cupressa arizona, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ulmus procera, Crataegus monogyna etc. Some were planted in rows or in other spatial arrangements...
It really concerns me that the Vineyard people on the east slope of mt Majura planted large amounts of Casuarinas that are not the local species, presumably A littoralis. They planted along the fence to the nature reserve. It will be close to impossible for a handful of volunteers to deal with an invasion of a species that looks similar to the local species.
I think it had been planted long time ago given its age; there are (or have been) many other exotic species in the area close by which have been clearly planted such as Cupressa arizona, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ulmus procera, Crataegus monogyna etc. Some were planted in rows or in other spatial arrangements...
It really concerns me that the Vineyard people on the east slope of mt Majura planted large amounts of Casuarinas that are not the local species, presumably A littoralis. They planted along the fence to the nature reserve. It will be close to impossible for a handful of volunteers to deal with an invasion of a species that looks similar to the local species.
MichaelMulvaney
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
Thanks Waltraud - Littoralis is local to the ACT occurring on rocky slopes near Gibraltar Falls - but probably not to Mt Majura - don't think that plantings on vineyard should be an issue and may add to the diversity and availability of food for Glossy Black Cockatoos
waltraud
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
Michael, I am concerned about introducing species that are not naturally occurring in the reserve. We have already a large amount of non-local species such as Acacia baileyana, A boormanii, A culitriformis etc etc. They all provide habitat so does Firethorn, African boxthorn, Hawthorn, Blackberry etc. Surely that doesn't mean we should keep them? I think there is no lack of food source on Mts Ainslie Majura; I'm afraid the disappearance of Glossy Black Cockatoos in the area has different reasons (which I don't know).
Tapirlord
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
If they are spreading then It may be worth monitoring and removing any young saplings (in much the way young blue gums are removed in the woodland near where I live). But I would suggest that removing the mature trees could be difficult and time consuming. Firethorns, cootamundra wattle, etc. are known spreaders with a high invasiveness potential, so should obviosuly be removed as you say, but i'm not sure that this species would be in the same category. In an ideal (and firethorn free) world, these sheoaks are not ideal, but I would suggest that its probably not worth the effort.
waltraud
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
Thank you all for your thoughts.
I discovered this particular A. littoralis specimen many years ago when we started woody weed control in this area. As with the planted Arizona Cypress, my approach is as you suggested: leave it and observe. It was only in the last growing season that we noticed very young saplings of Arizona Cypress in the area (probably helped by consecutive LaNina events) and decided to control a number of fruiting parent plants that had been planted many years ago (Cupressus arizonica (Arizona Cypress)). There are a couple of very big planted conifers including a huge ArizonaCypress but these are beyond our capacity.
I discovered this particular A. littoralis specimen many years ago when we started woody weed control in this area. As with the planted Arizona Cypress, my approach is as you suggested: leave it and observe. It was only in the last growing season that we noticed very young saplings of Arizona Cypress in the area (probably helped by consecutive LaNina events) and decided to control a number of fruiting parent plants that had been planted many years ago (Cupressus arizonica (Arizona Cypress)). There are a couple of very big planted conifers including a huge ArizonaCypress but these are beyond our capacity.
Tapirlord
wrote:
31 Aug 2022
I admire your perseverance with these things Waltraud, I visted the reserve last weekend (100+ sightings coming your way at some stage) and there are parts that are looking fantastic with very high native plant diversity. It truly is a pleasure to walk around!
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Nearby sightings
Location information
- Coordinates 149.170000-35.230780
- Altitude 620.0m
- Maps Mount Majura
- Places Watson, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 30 Aug 2022 11:52 AM Recorded on
- waltraud Recorded by
Additional information
- Greater than 5 metres Plant height
Species information
- Allocasuarina littoralis Scientific name
- Black She-oak Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-Invasive
- Up to 966m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
-
In flower
- External link More information
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
