44. WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



be grown outdoors. And still another Australasian 

 now and then greets us by the wayside, but of very 

 different aspect, the she-oak or beef -wood (Casuar- 

 ina quadrivalvis}. It is a queer, gray, piney-look- 

 ing tree, and you will probably pass it by at first 

 as a poor variety of conifer. It is worth knowing, 

 however, for it is a most exclusive tree, the genus 

 being quite alone in the world, a family to itself; 

 and despite its looks, its relationship is not at all 

 with pines, but rather with birches, as you will find 

 if you carry a few of the tight-fisted little cones 

 home and lay them on the mantel, where they will 

 soon open and surprise you by scattering tiny birch- 

 like winged seeds about. It is, moreover, without 

 true leafage; what passes for leaves being slender, 

 short-jointed stems, that pull apart at the joints as 

 the stems of horse-tails or equisetums do. The 

 form and arrangement of these curious stems on 

 the tree somewhat suggests the plumage of the Aus- 

 tralian cassowary, to which fact the genus owes its 

 botanical name, Casuarina. The tough heartwood 

 of the trees is as red as beef, whence the popular 

 name beef-wood, and is the material out of which 

 the Tasmanian aborigines are said to have fash- 

 ioned their shields in the good days of old. 



"A walk along a California avenue is like a trip 

 around the world," observed the Professor, as we 



