THE CUSSED CASUARINA

January 2000 Table of Contents

THE CUSSED CASUARINA
by Jack Hardy

No tree caused more debate in The Bahamas during 1999 than the casuarina. After Floyd, the debate grew hotter.

Also called Australian pine, casuarinas have fared very well in The Bahamas and the original plantings have proliferated throughout the islands. Virtually every beach in our country is bordered by these exotics. Sometimes they provide the only shade available. They are tall and handsome and the wind sighs through them very romantically. The lumber from casuarina is very dense and makes excellent charcoal. So what's the problem?

Make that problems. Casuarinas, once established, kill off all the native shoreline plants that try to grow around them. They kill by dropping thick carpets of branchlets around them, suffocating any new growth. It is also believed that the branchlets (the equivalent of true pine needles) contain growth inhibitors that affect other vegetation but not casuarinas.

The seed cases of casuarinas are knobby and, indeed, are often called 'knobs' by Bahamians. They are hell on bare feet. They are no fun when they land on your head, either. Those branchlets, by the way, are the reason the tree is named after the Australian cassowary. The feathers of the bird much resemble the branchlets of the casuarina.

You would think that the lines of casuarina trees along our shoreline would provide some protection against storm damage, but that's exactly the time when casuarinas let you down. Their roots spread very far but are shallow. When a casuarina topples, it is a brute to move. It is heavy and gives chain saws the fight of their lives. When trees fall forward into the water they destroy the beauty of a formerly pristine beach.

How much do they protect beaches? Very little. If kept back trimmed to about 15' tall or less, they are unlikely to fall to a hurricane but are ugly - lacking the gracefulness of a fully developed tree. An adult tree is a liability to fall inland or seaward.

The argument has been put forward that in catastrophic storms - a Floyd - the damage to other vegetation is reduced by the presence of casuarinas. However, the area of topsoil that is brought up by the expansive roots includes any plants that have survived in the vicinity of casuarinas. Go down and look at Bahama Palm Shores and other places that were 'protected' by casuarinas. They weren't. Even category one hurricanes bring down casuarinas. The bigger and more attractive they get, the greater liability they become.

My advice, if you invest in a beachfront home with seashore casuarinas, is to immediately rake the area clean of casuarina branchlets and keep it clean. In the meantime, plant native trees such as buttonwood (particularly silver buttonwood) and cordia. When they are established, kill your casuarinas (easier said than done) and seed your dune area with local seashore shrubs. The seeds can be obtained from other beach areas that have an overabundance. One plant you may consider is Hawaiian sea grape (or half-flower or Scaveola), which is the subject of a future article.

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