Narrative

Casuarina Tree (Casuarina glauca) was planted in the interior of Florida as a windbreak along the earlier roads. This species has been called the Suckering Australian Pine, but it is not even closely related to the Pines. The Pine-like needles are usually eight to eleven inches long. C. cunninghamiana, a related species, is also planted in Florida.

This lifeform is very common.

This lifeform is found in Australia. This lifeform is found in Florida, USA.

Casuarina Family (Casuarinaceae) was initially limited to the Indo-Australian Region with many species found on different islands in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, many species have lately been widely planted as ornamentals and have become established. This is especially true in Florida where several species have become quite common.

Casuarinales Order is made up of a single family the Casuarinaceae Family.

Dicots (Dicotyledoneae Class) are the predominant group of vascular plants on earth. With the exception of the grasses (Monocots) and the Conifers (Gymnosperms), most of the larger plants that one encounters are Dicots. Dicots are characterized by having a seed with two outer shell coverings.

Some of the more primitive Dicots are the typical hardwood trees (oaks, birches, hickories, etc). The more advanced Dicots include many of the Composite (Aster) Family flowers like the Dandelion, Aster, Thistles, and Sunflowers. Although many Monocots reach a very high degree of specialization, most botanists feel that the Dicots represent the most advanced group of plants.

Seed plants (Phylum Embryophyta) are generally grouped into one large phylum containing three major classes: the Gymnosperms, the Monocots, and the Dicots. (Some scientists separate the Gymnosperms into a separate phylum and refer to the remaining plants as flowering plants or Angiospermae.)

For North American counts of the number of species in each genus and family, the primary reference has been John T. Kartesz, author of A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland (1994). The geographical scope of his lists include, as part of greater North America, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Kartesz lists 21,757 species of vascular plants comprising the ferns, gymnosperms and flowering plants as being found in greater North America (including Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

There are estimates within the scientific world that about half of the listed North American seed plants were originally native with the balance being comprised of Eurasian and tropical plants that have become established.