casuarina

British  

/ ˌkæsjʊəˈriːnə /

noun

1. any tree of the genus Casuarina, of Australia and the East Indies, having jointed leafless branchlets: family Casuarinaceae See also beefwood she-oak

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Etymology

Origin of casuarina

C19: from New Latin, from Malay kěsuari _cassowary , referring to the resemblance of the branches to the feathers of the cassowary

Example Sentences

I rolled past casuarina pines, coco plum bushes, limestone sea cliffs and Preacher’s Cave, where the island’s first settlers, English Puritans, gave sermons.

From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2013

Here, jagged chunks of the old aquifer are thrown up on the banks and casuarina juxtaposes with native pine and palmetto.

From Time Magazine Archive

Behind the beaches, beyond a fringe of graceful, feathery casuarina trees, lie the swamps�great stinking pestholes which house most of nature's nightmares: crocodiles, pythons, cobras, and the nasty little Anopheles, the mosquito of malaria.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sombre casuarina, most mournful of the pine tribe, mingles with teak and mahogany in dense woods falling away on either side from the shadowy path.

From Through the Malay Archipelago by Richings, Emily

This island is moderately high, rocky, and barren, yet thickly covered with the eucalyptus and casuarina.

From A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 2 by Flinders, Matthew