| Allocasuarina simulans | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Casuarinaceae |
| Genus: | Allocasuarina |
| Species: | A. simulans |
| Binomial name | |
| Allocasuarina simulans | |
 | |
| Occurrence data fromAVH | |
Allocasuarina simulans, commonly known asNabiac casuarina,[2] is a species of flowering plant in the familyCasuarinaceae and isendemic to a restricted part of eastern New South Wales. It is a usually adioecious shrub with branchlets up to 190 mm (7 in) long, the leaves reduced to scales inwhorls of six, the fruiting cones 14–33 mm (0.6–1 in) long containing winged seeds (samaras) 4.5–6.0 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long.
Allocasuarina simulans is a dioecious, rarely amonoecious shrub that typically grows to a height of 1–3 m (3 ft 3 in – 9 ft 10 in) and mainly has smooth bark. Its branchlets are up to 190 mm (7.5 in) long, the leaves reduced to erect, often overlapping, scale-like teeth 0.5–1.1 mm (0.02–0.04 in) long, arranged in whorls of six around the branchlets. The sections of branchlet between the leaf whorls are 13–22 mm (0.5–0.9 in) long and 0.9–1.3 mm (0.04–0.05 in) wide. Male flowers are arranged in spikes 15–45 mm (0.6–2 in) long, with about four whorls per cm (per 0.4 in), theanthers about 1.3 mm (0.05 in) long. Female cones are borne on apeduncle 3–14 mm (0.1–0.6 in) long, the mature cones 14–33 mm (0.6–1 in) long and 9–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) in diameter, the winged seeds 4.5–6.0 mm (0.18–0.24 in) long.[2][3][4][5][6]
Nabiac casuarina resemblesAllocasuarina distyla, but is usually more slender.[4][5]
Allocasuarina simulans was first formally described in 1989 byLawrie Johnson inFlora of Australia from specimens collected at an old airstrip nearNabiac in 1975.[5][7] The specific epithetsimulans means 'imitating' or 'resembling'.[8]
This she-oak is only known from nearMyall Lakes, where it grows in sandy heath, shrubland and open woodland betweenBooti Booti National Park and Nabiac in eastern New South Wales.[3][5][6]
Nabiac casuarina is listed as "vulnerable" under the Australian GovernmentEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the New South Wales GovernmentBiodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species include disturbance from sand mining, inappropriate fire regimes and weed invasion, especially by exotic species such asLantana camara.[2][3][6][9]
