Casuarina equisetifolia L. | |
Casuarinaceae | |
Chavukku | |
| Botanical Name | Casuarina equisetifolia L. |
| Synonyms | Casuarina brunoniana Miq. |
| Family | Casuarinaceae |
| Common Name | English : Beach oak / Tamil : Chavukku |
| Distribution | Global : Australia, Pacific and India Indian : Throughout India |
| Description | Evergreen tree up to 35 m tall, Bark dark brown. Leaves/Foliage consists of slender, much-branched green to grey-green twigs, bearing minute scale-leaves in whorls of 6-8. The flowers are produced in small catkin-like inflorescences; the male flowers in simple spikes, the female flowers on short peduncles. Unlike most other species of Casuarina (which are dioecious) it is monoecious, with male and female flowers produced on the same tree. The fruit is an oval woody structure, superficially resembling a conifer cone made up of numerous carpels each containing a single seed with a small wing 6-8 mm long. |
| Flowering Fruiting period | February-June/August-September |
| Uses | Food, Fuel wood, Pest Management and for ornamental purposes |
| Medicinal Uses | Used in Treatment of inflammation, cancer and arthritis |
| Tamil Name | Chavukku |