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
Places Majura, ACT

Sighting information

2 Abundance
9 Aug 2023 02:29 PM Recorded on
Evie Recorded by
Collections
Plants Other Trees Evie Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Additional information

30cm to 1 metre Plant height

Species information

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

Record quality

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More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
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Description
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