Casuarina glauca Sieber ex Spreng.

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2024, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 17, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 5-45 : 14

Casuarina glauca Sieber ex Spreng.

– Fig. 5B, C.

N Tn: Tunisia: Monastir, Monastir city, between department buildings of Faculty of Pharmacy of Monastir, 35°45'49"N, 10°49'50"E, 10 m, 27 Jun 2020, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir), ibid, 18 Jul 2023, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir); Bizerta, Sejnane toward Nefza, 37°03'34"N, 09°13'25"E, 140 m, roadside, 11 Jul 2023, El Mokni (herb. Univ. Monastir).

– Casuarina glauca is an 8–20 m tall tree with typical long-recurved teeth (reduced leaves) on young permanent shoots ( Wilson & Johnson 1989: 104 & 107–108), originating from the coast of SE Australia ( Elfers 1988). The species has been successfully introduced in saline soils of Cyprus, Egypt, Florida, India, Israel, Kenya, Malawi, and South Africa ( National Research Council 1984). In N Africa, C. glauca was introduced only to Morocco ( POWO 2023) and Tunisia (pers. obs.), actually with unknown status. It is reported here for the first time as an established alien in Tunisia after the discovery of many juvenile seedlings and saplings with different stem diameters and heights since 2020 in the Monastir region (CE Tunisia) and more recently also of few juvenile specimens from seedlings in the Bizerta region (NE Tunisia). An analytical key is proposed here for the two alien species of the genus Casuarina occurring in Tunisia (derived from Wilson & Johnson 1989: 104; Verloove & Silva 2022: 34).

Figures

Fig. 5. Alien Casuarina species in Tunisia – A: C. cunninghamiana subsp. cunninghamiana, juvenile plant. – B, C: C. glauca; B: ferruginous cylindric cones; C: branchlet apex. – A: Tunisia, Mahdia, Rejiche, 7 Jul 2023; B, C: ibid., Monastir, Monastir city, 18 Jul 2023, photographs by R. El Mokni.