Bot. [f. mod.L. casuarius cassowary, from fancied resemblance of the branches to the feathers of the bird.]
A genus of curious trees, with jointed leafless branches, having the appearance of gigantic horse-tails (Equiseta), natives of Australia and the Indian Archipelago. The Australian species is known as Beef-wood, and ‘Oak.’
1806. Naval Chron., XV. 460. Clubs made of the wood of the casuarina.
1866. Treas. Bot., 237. The Fiji Islanders eat human flesh with forks made of the hard wood of a casuarina.
1883. H. Macmillan, in Sunday Mag., Sept., 547/1. Splendid date-palms grow side by side with lofty Australian acacias, casuarinas, and eucalypti.
