Casuarina equisetifolia CASUARINACEAE
Local name: Rhu or Aru hence the name Tanjung Aru, a famous beach at Kota Kinabalu in Sabah which is backed by a grove of these trees.
As first pointed out by the famous botanist E J H Corner, the tiny seeds of Casuarina equisetifolia will only germinate in full sun so Casuarinas are the first colonizers of newly formed sandy beaches an indication of an accreting (expanding) coastline in the past. For the same reason Casuarina equisetifolia frequently colonizes newly re-claimed coastal land around Borneo
Nut photos by María Fernanda González Giraldo.



