#allocasuarina

Described and named by German Botanist Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels in 1904. Diels collected extensively in Papua, Australia, Equador, but his entire collection including many holotypes was destroyed in an air raid in 1943.

Widespread in SW Western Australia, growing in sandplains.

Photos 1-2 - Banksia integrifolia

Photos 3-4 - Abrus precatorius

Photos 5-6 - Allocasuarina sp.

Some plants recorded out in the bush.

11-13/09/23 - Magnoliopsida spp.

There's at least five species of she-oak growing around Wongan Hills, and this is the only one I'm confident with the ID on. Probably because there was an information sign on the species about 2m away. I'd have had to get photos of the cones at various ages, male and female flowers, details of the needles and the tiny scale-like leaves that encircle each segment of the needle, and bark texture to be sure. Like so many of the plants around the area, they differ in their preferred soil type - A. huegeliana for example prefers to grow around granite outcrops.

Drooping She-Oak

AKA worgnal, shingle oak, coast she-oak, river oak, salt-water swamp oak, and Casuarina verticillata. The specific means 'forming or having whorls'.

A small tree endemic to SE Australia, usually growing to between 4 and 10m. It usually grows in grassy woodland, sometimes in pure stands and sometimes with eucalypts, but is also found on rocky sea coasts, coastal shale, and on dry ridges inland.

Apparently chewing on the foliage stimulates saliva flow, if you're crossing dry country, and the young cones are edible or at least chewable. The timber has been used for tool-making, boomerangs, and other purposes by our indigenous peoples, and the mature cones (as in the photo) as children's toys. The cones are also the favoured food of Glossy Black Cockatoos in some areas, which is convinient because Glossy Black Cockatoos nest in the reserve.

Back when we were planning to move back to Australia from California, I explored permaculture as an option to improve our land.  I had a permaculture design drawn up as some expense. It was really pretty, and I still consult it from time to time. There are some excellent things about permaculture, and its younger child, regenerative farming.  It’s a whole different way of looking at the…