180 



The She Oaks. 



(CASUARINA). 



1. Casuarina lepidophloia (Belah). 



2. Casuarina glauca (Salt-water Swamp Oak). 



3. Casuarina suberosa (Black She Oak). 



4. Casuarina Cunninghamiana (River Oak). 



5. Casuarina stricta (Drooping She Oak). 



6. Casuarina Luehmanni (Bull Oak). 



7. Casuarina torulosa (Forest Oak). 



GENERAL REMARKS ON SHE OAKS. 



Vernacular Names. Origin of the Term " She O.aJc." Casuarinas are 

 known as " Oaks " or " She Oaks." Various species go under the name of 

 " Forest Oak," " River Oak," " Swamp Oak," " Bull Oak," " Black Oak," 

 " Belah " or " Belar," " Beef wood." These are the principal names, but 

 there are a number of others, which will be given as the various species 

 come under review. 



The origin of the name " She Oak " has from time to time given rise to 

 discussion, but it is quite clear. 



The aborigines name the Casuarina She-look, which has probably been cor- 

 rupted by the early settlers into She Oak. (George Bennett, Ind. Progress of 

 N.8.W. (1870). Art. Oranges, p. 675.) 



I cannot accept this. 



In his " Flora of Tasmania," i, 340, Dr. (now Sir) Joseph Hooker says : 



She Oak, a name I believe adapted from North American " Sheack " ; 

 though more readily allied botanically to the Northern Oaks than any Tas- 

 manian- genus except Fagus; they have nothing to do with that genus in habit 

 or appearance, nor with the Canadian " Sheack." 



Following are extracts from letters to me concerning the origin of the 

 name " She Oak " from the late Prof. E. E. Morris, of Melbourne. Unfor- 

 tunately his notes were not printed: 



I have just received a second letter from Sir Joseph Hooker, in which he 



abandons any defence of his well-known explanation I have, 



as far as one can prove a negative, disproved the existence of the American 

 tree. I am now putting together my notes on the subject, and should they be 

 printed, I will send you a copy. 



Personally, I do not think we need look for any far-fetched derivation of 

 the term " She Oak." There is evidence that it reminded the early setttlers 

 of oak. 



The best kind is a tree with a pine top, but it is very hard, and in grain not 

 unlike the English Oak. (Letter of Major Ross from Sydney, 10th July, 1788. 

 Hist. Records, N.S.W., Vol I, Part 2, p. 172.) 



See also an even earlier comparison of the wood to English Oak by 

 Governor Phillip, infra, p. 182. 



