Allocasuarina defungens L.A.S.Johnson APNI* 
Description: Dioecious or monoecious, lignotuberous, depauperate, erect shrub 1–2 m high; bark smooth, greyish brown.
Branchlets ascending, to 12 cm long; articles smooth, glabrous, bluish green, 6–8 mm long, 0.5–0.6 mm diam.; ridges rounded-convex (often only slightly so); teeth 5–7, erect, overlapping when young, often withering at apex, 0.2–0.5 mm long.
Male spikes short-elongate, moniliform, 4–10 mm long; bracteoles persistent; anther 0.7–0.9 mm long.
Cones very irregular, short-cylindrical, on slender peduncle 3–7 mm long; cone body 8–11 mm long, 5–7 mm diameter; bracteoles smooth, obtuse to truncate with tiny mucro, with a pyramidal protuberance shorter than bracteole body. Samara c. 3 mm long, dark brown.
Distribution and occurrence: In tall heath on sand, in Nabiac area and farther north in the North Coast region.
NSW subdivisions: NC
Threatened species: NSW BCA: Endangered; Commonwealth EPBC: Endangered
May occasionally hybridise with A. littoralis, near which it often grows. A low, shrubby, suckering form/taxon allied to this species in the heathlands on the North Coast, tentatively labelled as 'possibly A. defungens X A. littoralis' in the herbarium, has been re-identified as A. thalassoscopica. Distinguished from A. diminuta and A. rigida by its slender articles with only slightly convex ridges and 5-7 teeth, and its usually short moniliform male spikes.
Text by KL Wilson and LAS Johnson (1990); edited KL Wilson (2006, Oct 2009, Feb 2014; May 2015; Nov 2015; April 2026)
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 1 (1990); Wilson and Johnson, Flora of Australia vol. 3 (1989)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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