Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia - Edward Ellis Morris

"The wail in the native oak."

1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 54:

"It may here be remarked that the term `oak' has been very inaptly—in fact ridiculously—applied by the early Australian settlers; notably in the case of the various species of Casuarina, which are commonly called `she-oaks."

1880. Fison and Howitt, `Kamilaroi and Kurnai,' p. 252:

"They chose a tall He-oak, lopped it to a point."

1885. J. Hood, `Land of the Fern,' p. 53:

"The sighing of the native oak,
Which the light wind whispered through."

1892. A. Sutherland, `Elementary Geography of British Colonies,' p. 27:

"A peculiar class of trees, called by the scientific name of Casuarina, is popularly known as oaks, `swamp-oaks,' `forest-oaks,' `she-oaks,' and so forth, although the trees are not the least like oaks. They are melancholy looking trees, with no proper leaves, but only green rods, like those of a pine-tree, except that they are much longer, and hang like the branches of a weeping-willow."

<hw>Oak-Apple</hw>, n. the Cone of the Casuarina or She-Oak tree.