Swamp Oak

Casuarina glauca

This small to medium-sized tree is found on alluvial, saline or acidic soils along estuaries, often near brackish water, from central Queensland to southern New South Wales. The Swamp Oak has distinctive coarse branchlets, similar in appearance to pine needles. The trees will often form dense clumps thanks to its root suckers.

The bark is dark grey, hard and furrowed, and the crown is irregular, often with drooping branches and relatively stiff dark green branchlets. Male and female cones occur on different trees. It is fast growing and bacteria associated with the roots will help correct the lack of nitrogen, making it adaptable to poor soils. The brown wood, resembling English Oak, is used for fuel wood, poles and posts, sawn building timbers and charcoal.

How high can I grow? Up to 20m.