G'day again Brett,

Dunno about the Bahamas examples ... the usual distribution that comes to my mind is Australasia/SE Asia - and that's what my Oxford includes in its definition ... deriving the name from "Late Latin casuaris = cassowary (that's a large flightless bird of our north and Indonesia / Papua/New Guinea).

The Macquarie Dictionary definition seems even tighter: "Any member of the genus Casuarina, a group of trees and scrubs with few species outside Australia ... ". The genus name is derived by Macquarie as from Malay kesuari, their name for the bird and the tree. Given modern transport and commercial plant culture, I'm inclined to suspect that the Bahamas examples are introduced ... unless they are a different genus of somewhat similar appearance!

Either way, like most Australian trees, they don't give you any more shade than they have to! (unlike your trees back in Maine that need to wave big, opaque green leaves in the sun ... when there is sunlight ... to make enough chlorophyll!)

Regards,

Bob Bolton