CHAP. ex. 



CASUARA CEiE. 



2061 



"^^■^^ 



tus Grand-Duke of Saxe- 

 Weimar. The species of 

 Casuarina here alluded to 

 was sent to Weimar origin- 

 ally under the name of Ca- 

 suarina equisetifolia Li7in. ; 

 and was, in the year 1810, 

 but a very small shrub, not 

 more than 3 ft. high, and 

 the trunk three fourths of 

 an inch in diameter. In that 

 year, it was planted in the 

 open air, in good soil, con- 

 taining a portion of calca- 

 reous matter, the substra- 

 tum of the country being of 

 that nature. It was so 

 placed as to receive the full 

 influence of the sun in sum- 

 mer, and to be protected 

 from the northern and 

 eastern winds. In the 

 winter, it was covered with 

 a temporary building, which 

 was warmed by fire, so 

 as to exclude the frost. 

 The height of the tree, in 1818, was 16 ft. 6 in., the circumference of the 

 head 42 ft., and that of the trunk nearly 20 in. Near to this tree was 

 another, which was planted in 1813. It was sent from Paris to Weimar 

 in a flower-pot, and was then a very small shrub. In 1818, it had already 

 reached the height of 8 ft., and the trunk was nearly 2 in. in diameter. 

 The larger tree flowered in 1818, but without producing any seed, being 

 evidently a dioecious plant. With regard to the botanical character of this 

 casuarina some doubts have arisen. It does not seem to be the species 

 usually called equisetifolia. The Belvedere plant appeared, in 1818, to be 

 clearly dioecious : it was covered with male flowers, and not a single female 

 was to be seen. Whether this arose from the circumstance that, in monoecious 

 plants, one set of flowers sometimes so strongly predominates as to render 

 the other imperceptible, and that a sort of equality between the two sets of 

 flowers only takes place as the plant advances in age; or that the plant in 

 question was not C. equisetifolia, but another species of the genus, which is 

 dioecious ; is uncertain. 



C. nodi/ldra Forst. Prod., No. 335., Willd. Sp. PI, 4. p. 190. Moncecious. Branchlets erect, te- 

 tragonal. Scales of the strobiles unarmed, glabrous. Sheaths of the male 4-cleft, glabrous. A tree, 

 15ft. high; a native of New Caledonia. Introduced in 1823. 



C. distyla Vent. Cels., t. 62., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 191. Dioecious. Branchlets erect, round. Scales 

 of the strobiles unarmed, ciliated. Sheaths of the male 7-cleft, somewhat ciliated. Flowers 2-styled. 

 A tree, IS ft high ; a native of New Holland. Introduced in 1812. 



C. stricta Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 320., Willd. Sp. PI., 4. ;p. 190., Bot. Rep., t. 346. Dioecious. 

 Branchlets erect, furrowed. Scales of the strobiles unarmed, smoothish. Sheaths of the male mul- 

 tifid, glabrous. A tree, a native of New Holland. Introduced in 1775, by Messrs. Kennedy and Lee. 

 It flowers in November and December. There is a plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden, 

 which has stood against a conservative wall since 1830 ; and there are plants at Messrs. Loddiges's. 



C. toruldsa Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 320., Willd. Sp. PI, 4. p. 191. The cork-barked Casuarina. 

 Dioecious. Branchlets weak. Scales of the strobiles villous, tuberculate, rough. Sheathsof the male 

 4-cleft. A large tree, a native of Holland. Introduced in 1772, by Sir Joseph Banks. There are 

 plants at Messrs. Loddiges's. 



Culture, Sfc. As all the above species are probably equally hardy, we 

 would recommend as many of them as possible to be got, and planted in warm 

 situations, in dry, sandy, pine or fir woods, where they would be thoroughly 

 sheltered. The pines should be at least 6 ft. or 8 ft. higher than the casua- 

 rinas ; but their branches should never be allowed to come nearer them than 

 within 2 ft. or 3 ft. ; and the roots of the pine trees, on the side ne.xt the 

 casuarina, should be cut off annually with a spade. As the casuarina in- 



