Nothofagus moorei

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Antarctic Beech
Base of trees in Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fagales Family: Nothofagaceae Genus: Nothofagus Species: N. moorei
Binomial name
Nothofagus moorei (F. Muell.) Krasser

Nothofagus moorei, once referred to as 'Negrohead beech', but now as 'Antarctic beech' (not to be confused with its South American relative, Nothofagus antarctica) is an evergreen tree native to the eastern highlands of Australia.

Contents 1 Habitat 2 Characteristics 3 History 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Habitat

It grows in warm temperate rainforests from the Barrington Tops plateau in New South Wales, north to the Lamington Plateau in southern Queensland, between altitudes of 500 m to 1500 m.^[1]. It occurs in temperate to cool temperatures and with occasional snowfalls.

[edit] Characteristics

These trees typically grow to 25 m tall and have large trunks to 1 m in diameter with scaly, dark brown bark. Maximum height is about 50 m. The leaves are simple and alternate, growing six centimeters long.^[2] The leaf color is dark green, with new growth brilliant red, or orange in spring. The tree is partially deciduous, dropping half its leaves in autumn. They are triangular with fine teeth. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins. The fruit, produced from December to February, are a capsule of four prickly valves containing three small winged nuts.

Complicated root structures are frequently exhibited, as in the example shown at right. These roots would once have been soil-covered, but have been exposed over the ages by erosion, and covered in moss and lichen. Many of the trees have multiple trunks eminating from a crown, formed by this root structure.[1]

It regenerates easily after fires.

[edit] History

Many individuals are extremely old, and at one time it was believed that the Eastern Australian populations could not reproduce in present-day conditions, except by suckering (Asexual reproduction), being remnant forest from a cooler time. It has since been shown that sexual reproduction may occur[2], but distribution in cool, isolated high-altitude environments at temperate and tropical latitudes is consistent with the theory that the species was more prolific in a cooler age.[3] The pattern of distribution around the southern Pacific Ocean rim has fed speculation that the dissemination of the genus dates to the time when Antarctica, Australia and South America were connected, the hypothetical common land-mass referred to as Gondwanaland.[4]

It is a very ornamental tree and cultivated specimens tolerate −7°C (19°F), though wild plants growing on Barrington Tops have withstood record low temperatures of −17°C (1ºF), no source provenance have been selected from there and other mountains, highlands or plateaus for cultivation.^[3]

[edit] See also

• Nothofagus cunninghamii

[edit] References