Allocasuarina zephyrea explained

Allocasuarina zephyrea is a species of flowering plant in the family Casuarinaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a dioecious shrub that has branchlets up to long, the leaves reduced to scales in whorls of seven to nine or ten, the fruiting cones long containing winged seeds long.

Description

Allocasuarina zephyrea is a dioecious shrub that typically grows to a height of . Its branchlets are up to long, the leaves reduced to scale-like teeth long, arranged in whorls of seven to nine or ten around the branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls are long, wide. Male flowers are arranged in spikes long, with 5 to 7 whorls per centimetre (per 0.39 in.), the anthers long. Female cones are on a peduncle long, and mature cones long and in diameter, containing black, winged seeds long. This allocasuarina is similar to A. grampiana.[1]

Taxonomy

Allocasuarina zephyrea was first formally described in 1989 by the botanist Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson in the Flora of Australia at Ocean Beach near Strahan in 1949.[2] [3] The specific epithet (zephyrea) means "west wind", referring to the species' occurrence on the western side of Tasmania.

Habitat and distribution

Allocasuarina zephyrea is endemic to Tasmania, growing in woodland, heath, sedgeland and on rocky outcrops from the western lowlands to central and south-eastern highlands, as well as on King Island.[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Allocasuarina zephyrea . Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: Canberra . 25 August 2023.
  2. Web site: Allocasuarina zephyrea. APNI. 25 August 2023.
  3. Book: Wilson . Karen L. . Johnson . Lawrence A.S. . George. Alex S.. Flora of Australia . 3 . 1989 . Australian Government Publishing Service . Canberra . 199 . 25 August 2023.
  4. Web site: Jordan . Greg . Allocasuarina zephyrea . University of Tasmania . 25 August 2023.