Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
Superdivision: Spermatophyta
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Casuarinales
Family: Casuarinaceae
Genus: Casuarina
Species:
Casuarina
equsetfolia L.
COMMON NAME: Agoho
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Casuarina equisetifolia Linn.
SYNONYMS/ OTHER SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Casuarina africana Lour.
Casuarina brunoniana Miq.
Casuarina excelsa Dehnh. ex Miq.
Casuarina indica Pers.
Casuarina lateriflora Poir.
Casuarina littorea Oken
Casuarina mertensiana Rupr. ex Miq.
Casuarina repens Hoffmanns.
Casuarina sparsa Tausch
Casuarina truncata Willd.
OTHER COMMON NAME:
Ago (Ibn., Neg.)
Agoho (Tag., Ilk., Bis., Bik.)
Agoo (Pang., Ilk., Kuy.)
Agoko (Pang.)
Ago-o (Ilk.)
Agoso (Pang., Tag.)
Ague (Ibn.)
Alaut (Bon.)
Antong (Is.)
Aroo (Ilk.)
Aroho (Ilk., Ting.)
Ayo (Bis.)
Karo (Ilk.)
Mahohok (Mbo.)
Malabohok (Bis.)
Maribuhok (Bis.)
Australian beefwood (Engl.)
Australian pine (Engl.)
Beach she-oak (Engl.)
Beefwood tree (Engl.)
Common ru (Engl.)
Horsetail casuarina (Engl.)
Iron wood (Engl.)
She oak (Engl.)
Whistling pine (Engl.)
MORPHOLOGY:
Agoho is a large, evergreen tree, tall and straight, up to 20 meters high.
ROOTS
C. equisetifolia has a shallow root system and tends to uproot and
topple during high winds, posing a significant hazard to coastal
storm evacuation routes (Florida DEP Undated). Its dense roots
can also break water-lines and sewer-lines (Snyder 1992).
LEAVES
The leaves are actually reduced to small sheaths on the needle-like
branchlets.
FLOWERS
Flowers are unisexual/monoecious, inconspicuous, female in small
axillary clusters, male in small terminal spikes.
STEM/BARK
Bark is brown and rough. The inner bark is light in color and has a
bitter taste.
FRUIT
Fruit is a tiny, one-seeded, winged nutlet (samara), formed in
woody cone-like clusters (fruiting heads), these clusters are brown,
two-centimetre-long (3/4 inch) and 1.3 centimetre-wide (1/2 inch)
(Description from FEPPC Undated).
SEEDS
Single seed
CULTIVATION:
- Cultivated in Manila and large towns as an ornamental foliage tree or
hedge plant.
- Also planted to check erosion.
- Also occurs in Tropics of the Old World from Africa to Polynesia, near the
sea.
- Now pantropic in cultivation.
- Throughout the Philippines along sandy seashores, extending inland in
open sandy valleys along streams.
- Sometimes growing at altitudes as high as 800 meters.
PROPAGATION:
Casuarina equisetifolia can be propagated by seed, stem cuttings and air
layering.
PHYTOCHEMISTRY:
Bark yields 18% tannin.
Tannins from the bark were catechin, ellagic acid, and gallic acid.
Flavonoid (quercetin) and lupeol were isolated from the leaf and fruit,
respectively.
Phytochemical screening yielded eight phenolic compounds as major
active constituents, viz. gallic (19.18 µg/g), protocatioic (6.84), salicylic
11.57), chlorogenic, syringic, p-hydroxybenzoic, p-coumaric, and vanillic
acid.
Leaf oils yielded 76 compounds comprising of monoterpene hydrocarbons
(29.3%), oxygenated monoterpenoids (16.2%), sesquiterpene
hydrocarbons (2.7%), oxygenated derivatives (1.0%), alipathic (40.6%)
and non-terpenoid (7.3%) compounds. Major compounds were
pentadecanal (32.0% and 1,8-cineole (13.1%), with significant quantities
of α-phellandrene (7.0%), apiole (72%), and α-terpinene (6.9%).
Methanol extract of leaves yielded alkaloids, flavonoids, saponin, tannins,
steroids, sugar and gum.
Methanol extract of aerial bark yielded carbohydrates, alkaloids, proteins,
glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and tannins.
MEDICINAL USES:
A decoction of the bark, when taken in large doses, is used as an agent
that promotes menstrual discharge and alleviates menstrual pains. It is
helpful in expectorating blood from some part of the respiratory tract and
also an excellent astringent.
The bark is used to arrest diarrhea and dysentery; its lotion used for
beriberi; a powder of the bark is prescribed for pimples on the face.
An infusion of the bark is used as a tonic.
A decoction of the twigs is used as a lotion for swellings; an infusion of the
branches is used as a diuretic (an agent that tends to increase the flow of
urine).
The leaves are used for colic spasm, obstruction or twisting or abdominal
pain.
The bark is used to ease diarrhea and dysentery. The powder of the bark
is prescribed for pimples in the face.
REFERENCES:
AGOHO. (1970, January 01). Retrieved August 15, 2020, from
https://medicinalplants101.blogspot.com/2011/11/agoho.html
Classification: USDA PLANTS. (n.d.). Retrieved August 15, 2020, from
https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display
Classification. (n.d.). Retrieved August 15, 2020, from
http://www.stuartxchange.org/Agoho.html
Global Invasive Species Database (2020) Species profile: Casuarina
equisetifolia. Retrieved August 15,2020, from
http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=365
