Adjacent Words

casuarina definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any of various trees and shrubs of the genus Casuarina having jointed stems and whorls of scalelike leaves; some yield heavy hardwood

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from Malay (pohon) k?suari, literally, cassowary tree; from the resemblance of its twigs to cassowary feathers Date: 1777 any of a genus (Casuarina of the family Casuarinaceae) of dicotyledonous chiefly Australian trees which have whorls of scalelike leaves and jointed stems resembling horsetails and some of which yield a heavy hard wood

Britannica Concise

Any of the chiefly Australian trees that make up the genus Casuarina (family Casuarinaceae), which have whorls of scalelike leaves and jointed stems resembling horsetails. Several species, especially C. equisetifolia, are valued for their hard, dense, yellowish- to reddish-brown wood, which is strong and reputed to be resistant to termite attack. Beefwood and ironwood are common names that reflect the wood's color and hardness.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. any tree of the genus Casuarina, native to Australia and SE Asia, having tiny scale leaves on slender jointed branches, resembling gigantic horsetails. Etymology: mod.L casuarius cassowary (from the resemblance between branches and feathers)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Casuarina Cas`u*a*ri"na, n. [NL., supposed to be named from the resemblance of the twigs to the feathers of the cassowary, of the genus Casuarius.] (Bot.) A genus of leafless trees or shrubs, with drooping branchlets of a rushlike appearance, mostly natives of Australia. Some of them are large, producing hard and heavy timber of excellent quality, called beefwood from its color.