SHE OAK

SHE OAK

LATIN NAME: CASUARINA EQUISETIFOLIA

HOMELAND: AUSTRALIA

Sacred Tree of Aborigines

It would not be an exaggeration to say that she oak, which we encounter in the fosil finds of the Gondwana super continent of the Jurrasic period, about 600 million years ago, is a vegetal mutant that has evolved from geological processes and has survived to the present day.

The she oak, which derives its Latin prefix Casuarina from the likeness of its spines to the thick draped feathers of the Kasuari bird living in Indonesia, is actually an oak tree that evolved according to the high salt content and arid soils of its homeland, Australia's ocean coasts.
The lack of micro-organisms that cannot find a place tolive in soils with high salinity prevents plant life, but thanks to the nitrogen-fixing feature of the roots of she oak in the soil, it has the ability to produce its own food in almost any dry land conditions, since it provides micro-organism life in the area where it spreads. At first glance, its gren spines, which look like a pine tree, are actually oak leave scurled according to the climatic conditions in which they have evolved, and these curls can even be seen with the naked eye when viewed upclose. Continuous needles hedding for 12 months, which is disturbing, is actually of vital importance for the survival of this tree, because the roots of the tree vacuum these needles poured into the soil to produce their own fertilizer.
It is a tree considered sacred to the Noongar Tribe of aboriginals because of the interesting effects of its biological properties on the physical conditions around it. Snakes do not come close to sheoak as they lose their ability to crawl and experience a kind of paralysis on their needles that fall into the bottom of sheoak, and even this feature alone can be considered enough for she oak to deserve a sacred value in the Noongar Tribe, because it can be protected from poisonous snakes of Australia in difficult natural conditions. This is perhaps the most important factor in the selection of the site.
She oak occupies a very important place in the daily life of the Noongar Tribe, as it provides protection against the venomous snakes of Australia. Women give birth under this tree, lost children wait to be found under the she oak.

The seeds of she oak in the oak fruit are the favorite food of the endangered and protected black cockatoo parrot of Australia.