Casuarina Torulosa Shohin

[dansai]

Hi Matty,

A few of things in regards to your "foliage" changing colour.

Firstly, many natives respond to higher light intensities by getting a red hue to their foliage. Some will revert to green if they go back into more shade. It's completely natural and fine.

Secondly, in nature you see the change of colour in Casuarina species. Spring growth nice and green, followed by a darkening to the purple/maroon colour through winter.

And lastly, the "needles" of a Casuarina are not foliage but young branches. The leaves are minute and located at each node. If you break off a small branchlet and then twist at a node and hold up the piece that was closest to the trunk you will see little spikes on the end which are actually the leaves. The young branchlets are green because they contain chlorophyll which is what converts sunlight to sugar. As they age they loose the chlorophyll and become woody.

By the way, your tree is looking good.

[Roger]

Hi Matt
The colour of the foliage of A. torulosa is one of its cool attractions. The colour on different trees ranges from pure green through to quite dark claret, or shiraz if you prefer, and everything in between. The colour change from green for fresh new foliage to red can go through a stage where you have green at one end of a segment and red at the other, before it all goes red.

From what I've seen along the Hawkesbury River, the green forms are most common, but there are populations of the red and reddish forms scattered all along the valley sides where it occurs. It generally doesn't grow beside the water, but back a bit on the foot slopes below the cliffs.

What will come up from seed will be various because you don't know for sure which tree was the father, nor how diverse either parent was with respect to potential to produce the red colouring, nor the genetics that control colour. As Steven says, enjoy it!

The trees produce the soft corking bark best when they are pot bound. It looks great, but also brings challenges when you need to repot: don't touch the corky bark or it will break off.

Have fun and good luck!
Roger

[matty-j]

Thanks for the info Dansai and Roger much appreciated

Cheers
Matt