Allocasuarina verticillata
drooping she-oak
A small weeping tree with cone-like fruit up to 2 inches long and an inch in diameter. The overall appearance of male trees is colored by dangling terminal spikes of pollen-bearing flowers that can exceed 4 inches in length. Segments on the needle-like branchlets are greater than ½ inch and up to 1½ inches. Leaf teeth number 9 to 13; unlike other common she-oaks, they spread away from the branchlet. This was one of a small number of selected trees offered in quantity at a very low price by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Forestry.
Male specimens reported in the Arboretum near Lasuen Street have been lost; so have females in the Junipero Serra Boulevard near Wing Place. Specimens are scattered around the boathouse at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View.
Related Material: Field Guide to Identify the Common Casuarina (Australian Pine) Species in Florida by William S. Castle offers excellent field identification advice.
About this Entry: The main text of this entry is from the Casuarina stricta entry in the book Trees of Stanford and Environs, by Ronald Bracewell, published 2005. First mentions of cones and needles changed to cone-like fruit and needle-like branchlets; name udpated to Allocasuarina verticillata (Jan 2018, SP). Edits; add Shoreline Lake location; removed location details: a male on the east side of Lasuen Street between Campus Drive and Arboretum, another male a hundred yards or so to the southwest (Dec 2023, SP).
