Trees. Leaves (5 or)6-17 per whorl. Infructescence ("cone") bracteoles never greatly thickened, without an abaxial protuberance. Samara body pale yellow-brown or grayish, dull, glabrous.

Seventeen species: nearly throughout range of family; three species (all introduced) in China.

The species hybridize freely when cultivated together; hybrids between Casuarina equisetifolia and C. glauca, and between C. cunninghamiana and C. glauca are known from Guangdong, Hainan, and Taiwan.

Casuarina junghuhniana Miquel (C. montana Junghuhn ex Miquel) has been reported as being occasionally cultivated but no specimens have been seen that confirm this.