Common name: Scrub She-oak
Allocasuarina distyla (Vent.) L.A.S.Johnson APNI* Synonyms: Casuarina distyla Vent. APNI*
Description: Dioecious shrub 1–3 m high; bark smooth, greyish brown.
Branchlets ascending, to 35 cm long; articles smooth, occasionally waxy, pubescent in furrows, 10–20 mm long, 0.8–1.5 mm diam.; ridges angular to rounded-convex, occasionally sparsely and minutely pubescent; teeth 6–8, erect, slightly overlapping at least when young, occasionally withering, 0.4–1.2 mm long.
Male spikes occasionally moniliform, 1–5-5 (rarely to 9) cm long with 4.5–6.5 whorls of flowers per cm of spike length; bracteoles persistent; anther 0.8–1.3 mm long.
Cones long-cylindrical, often with sterile apex to 12 mm long, on a peduncle 2–15 (rarely to 32) mm long and 2–4 mm diam.; cone body 13–35 (rarely to 50) mm long,11–22 mm diameter; bracteoles obtuse to truncate, with pyramidal protuberance shorter than bracteole body. Samara 4.0–8.0 mm long, very dark brown to black.
Distribution and occurrence: Coast and Tablelands from Port Stephens and Gospers Mtn south to the Eden area and the ranges E of Cooma. In tall heath on sandstone hillsides; usually on sandy soils.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC, CT, ST
Other Australian states: ?Vic.
Hybrids between this species and A. littoralis are relatively common between Broken Bay and Port Hacking.
Text by K. L. Wilson & L. A. S. Johnson (1990); edited KL Wilson (Feb 2014, Jan 2019, 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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