4,94: CASUARINEE. [ Casuarina. 
A family consisting only of a single genus, of which most of 
the species are Australian. The timber is hard and heavy and of 
the colour of raw beef, whence it is called beef-wood in Australia. 
CASUARINA, L. 
Characters those of the order. 
1. C. equisetifolia, Forst.; Brand. For. Fl. 435.—Tin-yu.—An 
evergreen tree (50—80+20—35+4—8), all parts glabrous; bark 
brown, corky and considerably cracked; the filiform, thin, slender 
branchlets arise from the woody rough branches and are jointed, the 
joints about 2 lin. long or a little longer, 7- or 6- or 8-cornered, ter- 
minating a toothed cup with as many teeth as corners to the joint ; 
male catkins terminal on the branchlets, linear-cylindric, about 3 in. 
- thickened on the back. : 
_ Has.—Not unfrequent along the sandy sea-shores of Chittagong, re-appear 
ing again along the Tenasserim coast from Moulmein southwards.—Fl. Feb.- 
March; Fr. C.S.—1.—SS.—=Aren. 
: Remarxs.—Wood hard, heavy, red-brown, of a texture like toon (but held 
e - estimation according to Roxburgh), Well adapted for house-posts and 
uel. 
GNETACEA. 
Flowers in catkins, dioecious or monoecious, rarely polygamous. 
Bracts numerous, very rarely distinct, but usually more oF less 
connate into an entire circular cup or into a more or less deeply. 2- 
lobed involucre. Male flowers: bractlets 2, connate and forming 
a perianth-like usually 2-lobed involucel to the anthers. Perian 
none. Stamen 1, or few, inserted on the bottom of the involucel, the — 
filament simple or 2-cleft at the apex, or if several are 
connate at the base; anthers 2-, very rarely 3-celled, opening by a 
terminal transverse slit or pore. Female flowers: Bractl 2 to 
4, decussately opposed and connate, forming a simple or double 
closed cup, only at the apex perforated, the outer cup, if present, 
winged and rarely enlarging with ripening of the fruit. Ovary 
solitary in the axil of the bractlets, I-celled, with a single erect ae 
ovule; stigma obliquely ligulate, discoid or fringed. Seed solitary, 
enclosed in the dry or usually more or less fleshy urceole or both ‘a 
urceoles, and forming a fleshy or dry drupe. Albumen flesby- 
