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Allocasuarina decaisneana
Also called Desert Sheoak
Desert oak is a dioecious tree native to arid Central Australia, growing in sandy swales between dunes in red sand. It is a species, not a genus, and is valued for its hardiness in dry conditions.
Allocasuarina decaisneana, commonly known as desert oak, desert sheoak, or kurkara by the Aṉangu peoples, is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Central Australia. It is a dioecious tree that typically grows to a height of 10–16 m (33–52 ft) and has long, drooping branchlets, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of four, the mature fruiting cones 28–95 mm (1.1–3.7 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 8.5–17 mm (0.3–0.7 in) long.
Desert oak mainly grows in the swales between sand dunes in red sand. It is mainly found in the arid lands of the south of the Northern Territory, but is also common in inland Western Australia east of Billiluna to the Mann and Musgrave Ranges in the far north-west of South Australia. It is the only member of its family to occur in these areas, apart from Casuarina glauca that has been introduced in some of these areas.
The tree was useful to Indigenous Australian peoples who used it as a source of water. Water can be collected from tree hollows but surface roots could also be broken off in sections to provide potable water by draining the root when held vertically or by directly sucking the water out. The Aborigines also used the hard wood of the trees for firewood and for making weapons and other implements, and they used the seeds for food. A 10,000 year-old boomerang made from Allocasuarina wood was found in Wyrie Swamp, near Millicent, South Australia.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Allocasuarina decaisneana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
