135 
No. 66. 
Casuarina torulos a, Ait. 
The Forest Oak. 
(Natural Order CASUARINACE^E.) 
Botanical description. —Genus, Casuarina. (See p. 74, Part XIII.) 
Botanical description. —Species, C. torulosa, Ait., Sort. Kew. iii, 320, 1789 (v, 
232, 2nd Edn., 1813). 
A small tree, dioecious or sometimes monoecious, with more slender branchlets than any other 
species, except some forms of C. suberosa; the ribs scarcely prominent. 
Whorls. —4-merous or very rarely (only in cultivated specimens?) the parts increasing to 5, the 
sheath-teeth very short. 
Male spikes. —Very slender, \ to 1 in. long, terminating deciduous branchlets, compact, although 
the short sheaths scarcely overlap. 
Cones. —Nearly globular but flat-topped, about f in. diameter, the valves very woody, broad, 
slightly protruding, villous on the back, the dorsal protuberance divided into numerous 
small nearly equal tubercles.—Miq. in DC. Prod, xvi, ii, 341, but not of his Rev. Cas. 
(B.F1., vi, 200). 
Botanical Name. — Casuarina, already explained, Part XIII, p. 79 ; 
torulosa, Latin, torulus (diminutive of torus), a little rope or cord; in Botany= 
moniliform (Greek- monile, a necklace), applied to a cylindrical body when it is 
swollen at regular intervals. In reference to the branchlets, which have a more or 
less torulose appearance, particularly on drying. 
Yernacular Names. —Called “ Cork bark’d Casuarina ” in the original 
description. Its usual name is “ Forest Oak,” though this is not specially 
appropriate, since C. suberosa equally deserves such a name. Nevertheless it will 
be a convenience to adhere to “Forest Oak ” for C. torulosa. Mr. District Forester 
Stopford states that it is known as “Forest or Bull Oak” in New England. We 
have another Casuarina to which the name “ Bull Oak ” is commonly applied. I 
have heard it called “ Mountain Oak,” but this is not entirely appropriate. It is 
sometimes called “ Beef-wood,” because of the rich dark colour of the timber. In 
Queensland it is sometimes known as “ Bed Oak.” 
