Page 255 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

FLOWERING PLANTS 253

ORDER CARYOPHYLLALES The grand devil’s-claw is typically ORDER CASUARINALES
found on small tropical islands and its BIRD-KILLING
Grand Devil’s-claw distribution is associated with sea bird TREE Casuarina
colonies. It can grow as tall as 98 ft
1
Pisonia grandis (30 m), the trunk can be up to 6/2 ft The seeds of grand devil’s-claw Casuarina equisetifolia
TYPE Woody perennial (2 m) in diameter, and it is often the are produced in clusters of TYPE Woody perennial
dominant tree in coastal forests that
HEIGHT 46–98 ft 50–200 and exude a resin that HEIGHT 66–98 ft
(14–30 m) are undisturbed by humans. The trees makes them extremely sticky. (20–30 m)
provide nesting and roosting sites for
HABITAT Coastal and They attach to the feathers of HABITAT Coastal and
island forests many species of sea bird, whose guano sea birds and may subsequently island forests
is an important fertilizer on isolated be flown to remote islands. This
DISTRIBUTION Coasts and islands in Indian Ocean, islands. The branches break easily, DISTRIBUTION Southeast Asia, eastern Australia,
Southeast Asia, and South Pacific and can root in the ground. is an effective means of dispersal, and islands in southeast Pacific
but the seeds are so sticky that
small birds often become Casuarina has many common names,
completely entangled and die.
including Beach she-oak, beefwood,
ironwood, and Australian pine. It is
typically found at sea level, but also
grows inland to 2,600 ft (800 m).
Casuarina is fast-growing, reaching
a height of 65 ft (20 m) in 12 years.
It is drought-tolerant, and can grow
in poor soils because it can fix nitrogen
in nodules on its roots. Its wood is
very hard and is used as a building
material and as firewood. The bark is
widely used in traditional medicines.

ORDER ARECALES
COCONUT TREE
Coconut Palm The coconut palm can live as long as 100
years, a mature tree producing 50–80
coconuts a year. The trunk is ringed with
Cocos nucifera
annual scars left by fallen leafbases.
HABIT Woody perennial
HEIGHT 66–72 ft
(20–22 m)
HABITAT Coastal rocky,
sandy, and, coralline
soils
DISTRIBUTION Tropical and subtropical coasts
worldwide
The coconut palm was once the
mainstay of life on Pacific islands.
It provided food, drink, fuel, medicine,
timber, mats, domestic utensils, and
thatching for roofs. It remains an
important subsistence crop on many
Pacific islands today. Its original
habitat was sandy coasts around the
Indo-Malayan region, but it now is
found over a much wider area, assisted
by its natural dispersal mechanism, and
deliberate planting by humans. The
fibrous husk of the coconut fruit is
a flotation aid that enables the seeds
to be carried vast distances by ocean
waves and currents. The coconut palm
cannot develop viable fruits outside of
the tropics and subtropics.

COCONUT FRUIT
The fruit of the Coconut Palm weighs
2¼–4½ lb (1–2 kg). It contains one seed,
which is rich in food reserves and is part
solid (flesh) and part liquid (coconut milk).

fibrous
husk

edible OCEAN LIFE
flesh