# The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland/Volume 3/Nothofagus

The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland was a multi-volume work, privately published between 1906 and 1913. The third volume was published 1908. The plates of this volume are inserted in the volume.
NOTHOFAGUS
    Nothofagus, Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. i. 307 (1850); Oerstedt, Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. V. ix. 331 (1873); Solereder, System. Werth Holzstructur, 253 (1885); Krasser, Ann. K.-K. Naturhist. Hofmuseums, Wien, xi. 149 (1896).
    Calucechinus and Calusparassus, Hombron et Jacquinot, Voy. Pôle. Sud. Atlas, tt. 6–8 (1853).
    Lophozonia, Turczaninow, Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. xxxi. 396 (1858).
    Fagus, section Nothofagus, Bentham et Hooker, Gen. Pl. iii. 410 (1880).
This genus comprises the beeches inhabiting extra-tropical South America, Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, and was formerly considered to be a section of the genus Fagus, which, however, as now limited, includes only the species of the northern hemisphere. The two genera are distinguished as follows:—
Nothofagus.—Trees or shrubs, with deciduous or evergreen foliage. Flowers moncecious or rarely dicecious, either solitary or in groups of threes. Fruit: involucre, two-, three- or four-valved, usually bearing externally transverse entire, toothed or lobed lamellæ, with or without gland-tipped processes; or in rare cases the valves are smooth and without appendages; nuts, solitary or three in each involucre.
Fagus.—Trees with deciduous foliage. Flowers moncecious; the staminate numerous in globose heads, the pistillate in pairs. Fruit: involucre, covered externally with bristly, deltoid or foliaceous processes; nuts, two in each involucre.
About seventeen distinct species of Nothofagus are known, constituting three natural sections, based on the characters of the foliage:—
I. Leaves deciduous, soft in texture, folded in bud along the lateral nerves, crenate or serrate in margin.
1. Nothofagus antarctica, Oerstedt. Large tree, S. America. Introduced into cultivation. Leaves ovate, ¾ to 1 inch long; lateral nerves three to five pairs; margin slightly lobed, unequally crenate, with three to five teeth between the ends of each adjacent pair of nerves.
2. Nothofagus Montagnei, Reiche. Shrub or low tree. Chonos Archipelago. Not introduced. A little-known species, of which I have seen no specimen; leaves 3 inch long, firmer in texture and more conspicuously veined above than those of the preceding species, from which it is also distinguished by the yellow-coloured pubescence on the branchlets.
​3. Nothofagus pumilio, Krasser. Shrub or low tree, S. America. Not introduced. Leaves ovate, 1 to 1¼ inch long; lateral nerves five to seven pairs; regularly bicrenate in margin, with two teeth between the ends of each adjacent pair of nerves. Young branchlets clothed with dense yellow pubescence.
4. Nothofagus obligua, Blume. Large tree, S. America. Introduced. Leaves, 1 to 24 inches long, ovate-oblong, glaucous beneath; lateral nerves seven to eleven pairs; lobulate and serrate in margin.
5. Nothofagus procera, Oerstedt. Large tree, S. America. Not introduced. Leaves, 2 to 34 inches long, oblong; lateral nerves fifteen to sixteen pairs; doubly serrate in margin.
6. Nothofagus Gunnii, Oerstedt. Shrub, Tasmania. Not introduced. Leaves, 4 inch long, ovate; lateral nerves six pairs, prominent beneath; margin regularly crenate, with one tooth between the ends of each adjacent pair of nerves.
II. Leaves evergreen, margin not entire. In this section, the leaves are usually very coriaceous, and glabrous, or with only slight pubescence.
A. Leaves minutely crenulate in margin.
7. Nothofagus apiculata, Krasser. Tree attaining 40 feet in height, New Zealand. Not introduced. Leaves 1 inch long, elliptical, conspicuously mucronate at the apex.
B. Leaves crenate in margin.
8. Nothofagus Menziesii, Oerstedt. Large tree, New Zealand. Introduced. Leaves, ½ inch long, ovate, rhomboid or orbicular, doubly crenate, with two pubescent pits on each side of the midrib near the base on the lower surface.
9. Nothofagus Cunninghami, Oerstedt. Large tree, Australia, Tasmania. Introduced. Leaves, 4 inch long, ovate, deltoid or rhomboid, simply crenate; lower surface without pits or resinous papille.
10. Nothofagus betuloides, Blume. Large tree, S. America. Introduced. Leaves, $ to 1 inch long, ovate, crenate or obtusely dentate; lower surface dotted with resinous papillz.
C. Leaves serrate in margin.
11. Nothofagus Dombeyi, Blume. Large tree, S. America. Not introduced. Leaves, 1 inch long, lanceolate; nerves six pairs; lower surface dotted with resinous papille.
12. Nothofagus nitida, Krasser. Large tree, S. America. Not introduced. Leaves, 1 to 1% inch long, trapezoid-ovate, acuminate; nerves six pairs; lower surface not dotted,
13. Nothofagus fusca, Oerstedt. Large tree, New Zealand. Introduced. ​Leaves, 1 to 1½ inch long, thin in texture, ovate, rounded at the apex; serrations large, few, irregular; nerves four to seven pairs.
14. Nothofagus Moorei, Krasser. Large tree, Australia. Introduced. Leaves, 2 to 3 inches long, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; sharply and finely serrate; nerves ten to fifteen pairs.
III. Leaves evergreen, entire in margin. In this section, the leaves on young trees are glabrous; but on older trees they become densely tomentose on the under surface. They resemble considerably the leaves of certain species of Vaccinium.
15. Nothofagus cliffortioides, Oerstedt. Large tree, New Zealand. Introduced. Leaves, ¼ to ½ inch long, ovate, rounded at the base; tomentum whitish.
16. Nothofagus Solandri, Oerstedt. Large tree, New Zealand. Not introduced. Leaves ¼ to ½ inch long, oblong, cuneate at the base; tomentum whitish.
17. Nothofagus Blairii, Krasser. Large tree, New Zealand. Not introduced. Leaves ¾ inch long, ovate, rounded at the base, apiculate at the apex; tomentum yellowish. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS CLIFFORTIOIDES
    Nothofagus cliffortioides, Oerstedt, Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. V. ix. 355 (1873).
    Fagus cliffortioides, J.D. Hooker, in Hook. Icon. Plant. tt. 673 (1844) and 816b (1852), Flora New Zealand, i, 230 (1854), and Handb. New Zealand Flora, 250 (1864); Kirk, Forest Flora New Zealand, 201, tt. 101, 101a (1889); Cheeseman, New Zealand Flora, 643 (1906).
An evergreen tree, attaining, in New Zealand, about 50 feet in height and 6 feet in girth. Young branchlets pubescent; buds minute, ovoid, shining, brown. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 4) persistent for two or three years, distichous and crowded on the branchlets, coriaceous, minute, ¼ to ½ inch in length, entire in margin; on young plants ovate, rounded at both base and apex, green and glabrous on both surfaces; on adult trees, ovate or ovate-oblong, rounded and unequal at the base, subacute at the apex, minutely punctate above, greyish-white with dense appressed pubescence beneath; petioles short and pubescent. Male flowers solitary; stamens eight to twelve. Fruit: involucre ⅛ to ¼ inch long, three-lobed, each lobe with two or three entire transverse lamellæ; nuts one to three, winged, one or two triquetrous, the third flattened.
This tree is known in New Zealand as the "mountain birch," and is confined to mountainous regions except in the south-western corner of the South Island, where it descends to sea-level. It is not found in the northern part of the North Island; but elsewhere is very common in the forests between 2000 and 4000 feet elevation, ​often forming the timber line, when it becomes a mere bush. The wood, though of no great size, is used for telegraph-poles, fencing-posts, railway sleepers, and wharf-piles, the heartwood being very durable in situations where it is exposed to alternations of dryness and moisture.
N. cliffortioides is extremely rare in cultivation. There are two specimens at Enys, Cornwall, which, according to Mr. John D. Enys, were 35 feet and 28½ feet high respectively in 1905; but when Elwes saw them in that year they were very slender and not thriving. These trees are semi-deciduous, most of the leaves, after turning brilliant red in autumn, falling off during winter; whereas, in New Zealand, the foliage is strictly evergreen. Another tree is growing at Messrs. Veitch's nursery at Coombe Wood, where it stands out of doors without any protection. It is very slow, however, in growth, and is only about 12 feet in height. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS MENZIESII
    Nothofagus Menziesii, Oerstedt, Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. V. ix. 355 (1873).
    Fagus Menziesii, J.D. Hooker, Icon. Plant. t. 652 (1844), and Flora New Zealand, i. 229 (1854); Kirk, Forest Flora New Zealand, 175, t. 89 (1889); Cheeseman, New Zealand Flora, 640 (1906).
An evergreen tree, attaining in New Zealand 100 feet in height and 15 to 25 feet in girth. Bark silvery-white, resembling that of the common English birch. Young branchlets covered with dense erect brown pubescence. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 9) persistent for two or three years, distichous on the branchlets, about ½ inch long, coriaceous, deltoid, ovate or rhombic; cuneate at the base, obtuse at the apex; glabrous; upper surface dark-green, shining; lower surface pale-green, with usually two (occasionally only one or none) small pits fringed with brownish hairs near the base of the midrib; lateral veins about three pairs; margin irregularly and doubly crenate; petioles short, pubescent. Male flowers solitary; calyx four- to six-lobed; stamens six to twelve. Fruit: involucre ¼ to ⅓ inch long, cleft into four narrow lobes, each with five transverse scales, cut to the base into recurved linear glandtipped processes; nuts three, one two-winged, two three-winged, the wings produced upwards into sharp points.
This species, which is known in New Zealand as the "silver birch" or "red birch," is common in the mountain forests of both the North and South Islands, ascending from sea-level to 3500 feet. The wood is dark-red, strong, and compact, and being easily worked, is suitable for making furniture.
A small tree of this species is growing in the Temperate House at Kew; and we are not aware that it has ever been tried in the open air. The tree has handsome foliage, and should be hardy in Cornwall and the south of Ireland. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS FUSCA
    Nothofagus fusca, Oerstedt, Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. V. ix. 355 (1873).
    Fagus fusca, J.D. Hooker, Icon. Plant. tt. 630, 631 (1844), and Flora New Zealand, i. 229 (1854); Kirk, Forest Flora New Zealand, 179, t. 90 (1889); Cheeseman, New Zealand Flora, 641 (1906).
An evergeen tree, attaining in New Zealand 100 feet in height and 25 feet in girth. Bark of young trees white and smooth, becoming on old trees furrowed longitudinally and brown in colour. Young branchlets minutely pubescent. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 8) persistent for two years, distichous on the branchlets, ¾ to 1½ inch long, thin in texture, glabrous, broadly ovate, cuneate at the base, rounded at the apex, dark-green and shining above, pale-green beneath; sharply serrate with a few large teeth in the upper two-thirds of the leaf; lateral nerves four to five pairs; petioles about ⅛ inch, pubescent. Male flowers solitary or in threes; calyx fivetoothed; stamens eight to sixteen. Fruit: involucre nearly ½ inch long, viscidpubescent, four-lobed, each lobe with three to five transverse entire or fringed scales; nuts three, as in N. Menziesii.
This species is a native of New Zealand, where it is known as the "black birch" or "red birch." It grows in forests at elevations between sea-level and 3500 feet, being a splendid tree. Its distribution is North Island from Monguni and Kartaia southwards, but local to the north of the East Cape; South Island from Nelson to Foveaux Straits, but rare in Canterbury and Eastern Otago. The wood is dark-red, strong and compact, and more durable than that of the other species; it is frequently used for wharves, bridges, and fencing posts.
A small tree of this species about 10 feet high, and said to be thirty years old, is growing in the Coombe Wood Nursery. At Castlewellan, Co. Down, there is a tree about 18 feet high, which was imported from New Zealand some years ago as a small plant in a Wardian case. It is growing rapidly, making an annual growth of a foot. The old leaves remain on the branches till the new ones appear, changing before they fall to a brilliant red, which contrasts well with the light green of the young growths. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS MOOREI
    Nothofagus Moorei, Krasser, Ann. K.-K. Naturhist. Hofmuseums, Wien, xi. 163 (1896).
    Fagus Moorei, F. v. Mueller, Fragm. Phyt. Austral. v. 109 (1865); Bentham, Fl. Australiensis, vi. 211 (1873).
An evergreen tree, attaining in Australia 150 feet in height. Young branchlets pubescent; buds ovoid, acute, brown. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 7) persistent for two or three years, distichous on the branchlets, coriaceous, glabrous; shining, dark​green above; pale-green beneath; ovate or ovate-lanceolate; 2 to 3 inches long on barren branchlets, about 1 inch long on flowering shoots; unequally cuneate at the base, acuminate at the apex, finely and sharply serrate; lateral nerves 8 to 12 pairs, prominent on the upper surface; petioles very short, pubescent. Flowers unknown. Fruit: involucre about ⅝ inch long, four-lobed; lobes lanceolate, acute with pubescent scales terminating in glandular processes; nuts three, two three-winged, the -winged. NE a was discovered by Mr. C. Moore, Curator of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, in New South Wales, and is the only southern beech occurring in a subtropical region. It forms dense forests at the head of Bellinger River and Bealsdown Creek, at about 4000 feet altitude; and a few trees have also been seen near the source of the Macleay River. It was introduced into cultivation at Kew about fifteen years ago, and there is a small tree now growing there in the Temperate House. The only specimen living in the open air, so far as we know, is growing in the garden of Mr. Thomas Acton at Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow. It was 18 feet high in 1906, and had bark resembling that of Prunus avium. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS CUNNINGHAMI
    Nothofagus Cunninghami, Oerstedt, Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift, V. ix. 355 (1873).
    Fagus Cunninghami, J. D. Hooker, Journ. Bot. ii. 152, t. 7 (1840), and Flora Tasmaniæ, i. 346 (1860); F.v. Mueller, Fragm. Phyt. Austral. v. 110 (1865); Bentham, Flora Australiensis, vi. 210 (1873); Rodway, Tasmanian Flora, 182 (1903).
An evergreen tree, said to attain in Tasmania 200 feet in height and 4o feet in girth. Bark, as seen in cultivated trees, roughened by small scales and fissuring longitudinally. Young branchlets densely and minutely pubescent. Buds conical, sharp-pointed and curved at the apex, shining, brown. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 5) persistent for two or three years, distichous and crowded on the branchlets, coriaceous, about ½ inch in length; broadly ovate, deltoid or rhombic; cuneate or cordate at the base, acute at the apex; unequally crenate in margin; both surfaces glabrous, veins inconspicuous and scarcely prominent beneath; petioles short, pubescent. Male flowers solitary; stamens eight. Fruit: involucre ¼ inch long, four-lobed, each lobe with five or six rows of dorsal transverse scales, split up into gland-tipped processes; nuts usually three, two lateral triquetrous and three-winged, the other flattened and two-winged.
Plate 154.
TASMANIAN BEECH AT FOTA
N. Cunninghami is very rare in cultivation. The finest tree (Plate 154), said by Lord Barrymore to have been planted about fifty years ago, is growing at Fota, Co. Cork, and measured, in 1904, 48 feet high by 3 feet 3 inches in girth. This tree has numerous branches, many of them ascending from near the base of the trunk. A tree at Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow, with branches ascending and curving at the tips, was 4o feet high by 3 feet 4 inches in1906. This tree has excrescences on the trunk, similar to the so-called ' wood-balls," which are often seen on the common beech. It flowered in 1906. At Osborne, Isle of Wight, there is a tree, 30 feet by 2 feet 2 inches, which when Elwes saw it in 1906 seemed thriving.
It seems to be as hardy as any of the genus, and might be planted with good prospects of success in the extreme south-west of England near the sea. (A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS BETULOIDES
    Nothofagus betuloides, Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. i. 307 (1850); Reiche, Chil. Buch. 15 (1897); Wildeman, Voy. Belgica, 74 (1905); Macloskie, Princeton Univ. Expedit. Patagonia, Botany, 329 (1903–6).
    Fagus betuloides, Mirbel, Mém. Mus. Paris, xiv. 465, t. 4 (1827); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1982 (1838); Hooker, Journ. Bot. ii. 155 (1840), and Fl. Antarct. ii. 349, t.124 (1847).
    Fagus Forsteri, Hooker, Journ. Bot. ii. 156, t. 8 (1840).
    Betula antarctica, Forster, Comm. Goett. ix. 45 (1789).
    Calusparassus betuloides and C. Forsteri, Hombron et Jacquinot, Voy. Pôle Sud, Atlas t. 7 (1853).
A large evergreen tree. Bark smooth, grey; scaling near the base in old trees. Young branchlets slender, viscid, covered with short pubescence. Buds minute, brown, ovoid. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 3) persistent for two or three years, distichous and crowded on the branchlets, rigid, coriaceous, ¾ to 1 inch long by 4 inch or slightly more in breadth, ovate, rounded at the base, acute at the apex, crenate or serrate in margin; upper surface shining, glabrous, often viscid; lower surface finely reticulate, glabrous, dotted with resinous papille; petioles short. Male flowers solitary; calyx funnel-shaped, four- to seven-lobed; stamens ten to sixteen, with long and slender filaments. Fruit: involucre four-lobed, with erect filiform glandular processes.
According to Loudon, both N. betuloides and N. antarctica were introduced in 1830, but he had not seen a specimen of either. Sir W.J. Hooker states that healthy young trees of both species, the first, as far as he knew, that ever had reached Europe, were sent in Wardian cases to Kew from Cape Horn in 1843, being ​a consignment from his son, who was attached as botanist to the Antarctic expedition of the Erebus and Terror. (A.H.)
The largest and finest specimen which I have seen in cultivation is at Bicton (Plate 155). It measured in 1906 about 50 feet in height and 6½ feet in girth; but bore no fruit on two occasions when I saw it. At Pencarrow, Cornwall, a tree, reported by Mr. Bartlett to have been obtained from Messrs. Veitch in 1847, was 36 feet by 4 feet 3 inches in 1903. One at Coldrinick in the same county was measured in 1905 by Mr. Bartlett, who gives its dimensions as 45 feet by 5 feet 5 inches. There is another specimen, about sixty years old, growing on Sir John Llewellyn's property at Caswell Bay, near Swansea, which he tells me measured 25 feet by 3 feet 2 inches in 1907. It is close to the sea and in consequence has been shorn off by the sea wind to the same height as the Portugal laurels and poplars which grow beside it.
At Grayswood, Haslemere, at 600 feet elevation, a tree, said by Mr. B.C. Chambers to have been planted in 1882, measured 34 feet by 2 feet 3 inches in 1906. At Hafodunos, Denbighshire, a tree, reported by Col. Sandbach to have been planted in 1855, was in 1904 36 feet high by 5 feet 2 inches in girth at 3 feet from the ground, dividing at 5 feet up into two stems. There is no tree growing now at Kew, one, a healthy specimen, having been killed by frost in January 1867. There is also a tree growing at Ashridge Park, Herts, which is about 30 feet by 3 feet, on which Miss Woolward has observed fruit, and a smaller one is in the Knap Hill Nursery, near Woking. A tree at Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow, was, in 1906, 33 feet high by 2 feet 10 inches in girth.
I have a sample board from a tree of this species, which grew on the rockery at Lucombe and Pince's Nursery, Exeter. This was cut down when the nursery was cleared for building in March 1903. In 1886, it was 35 feet high and 2 feet 8 inches in girth at 3 feet from the ground, and had not grown much in the succeeding years, The timber was of poor quality, and had begun to decay. (H.J.E.)
NOTHOFAGUS OBLIQUA
    Nothofagus obliqua, Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. i. 307 (1850); Reiche, Chil. Buch. 8 (1897); Wildeman, Voy. Belgica, 75 (1905).
    Fagus obliqua, Mirbel, Mém. Mus. Paris, xiv. 465, t. 23 (1827); Hooker, Journ. Bot. ii. 153 (1840).
    Fagus glauca, Philippi, Linnæa, xxix. 43 (1857).
    Lophozonia heterocarpa, Turczaninow, Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. xxxi. 396 (1858).
Plate 155.
EVERGREEN BEECH AT BICTON
This species is very variable, especially as regards the size and pubescence of the leaf, and De Candolle distinguished three varieties:—Var. valdiviana: leaves small, glabrous, with cuneate base; var. macranthera: stamens long, leaves pubescent beneath; and var. macrocarpa, with the nuts longer than the valves of the involucre.
N. obligua was introduced into England by Lobb in 1849, and in the following year it was said to have been growing freely in the open air in Messrs. Veitch's nursery at Exeter. None of the original plants appear, however, to have survived.
Plants raised from seed, brought from Chile by Elwes in 1902, have grown with great vigour at Kew, being now about 8 feet in height. At Monreith, Sir Herbert Maxwell, who received a plant from Kew, reports that it has borne without injury 20° of frost, and may be assumed to be perfectly hardy. In Lord Ducie's garden at Tortworth, this tree has grown with astonishing vigour, being now 12 feet high and 8 inches in girth; it endured the severe frost of May 1905 without any apparent injury. The seedlings which were raised at Colesborne, however, never throve, and died before attaining any size, which is possibly due to the presence of lime in the soil.(A.H.)
NOTHOFAGUS ANTARCTICA
    Nothofagus antarctica, Oerstedt, Vidensk, Selsk. Skrift. V. ix. 354 (1873); Reiche, Chil. Buch. 11 (1897); Wildeman, Voy. Belgica, 73 (1904); Macloskie, Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, Botany, 326 (1903-1906).
    Fagus antarctica, Foster, Comm. Goett. ix. 24 (1789); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 1982 (1838); Hooker, Journ. Bot. ii. 149, t. 6 (1840), and Fl. Antarct. ii. 345, t. 123 (1847).
    Calucechinus antarctica, Hombron et Jacquinot, Voy. Pôle Sud, Atlas, tt. 6, 7 (1853).
A deciduous tree, attaining in Terra del Fuego at low elevations a very large size. Young branchlets covered with dense erect pubescence, persistent in the second year. Buds, ⅛ inch long, ovoid, slightly compressed, glabrous, few-scaled. Leaves (Plate 202, Fig. 1) ½ to 1 inch long, crumpled and uneven in surface, ​oblong-ovate, unequal and usually cordate at the base, rounded at the apex, variable in pubescence, dark-green above, light- green beneath; nerves usually four pairs; margin with three or four pairs of shallow lobes, which are minutely and irregularly dentate, the teeth being rounded or acute; petiole % to 1 inch, pubescent. Male flowers solitary; calyx five-partite; stamens ten, as long as the calyx. Fruit: involucre four-partite, each lobe with three to four transverse reddish scales; nuts three, the central one two-winged, the lateral pair three-winged.
Two distinct forms occur:—
1. Var. sublobata, DC.—Petiole and upper surface of the leaf glabrescent; lower surface glabrous except on the nerves, which are clothed with long appressed hairs.
2, Var. uliginosa, DC.—Leaves pubescent on both surfaces with minute erect hairs.
This species was introduced in 1843, as mentioned in our account of N. betuloides, but it is doubtful if any of the original plants are still living. The only specimen which we have discovered is a bushy tree, about 15 feet high, which is growing alongside a fine tree of N. betuloides at Hafodunos, Denbighshire. Colonel Sandbach believes it to be about thirty years old.
Plants raised from seed, collected by Elwes in Chile in 1902, are now in cultivation at Kew, in a peat-bed, and have attained about 6 feet in height. They are vigorous in growth, and have passed through the severe frosts of 1906-1907 without injury, and look as if they might grow to be trees of considerable size. (A.H.)
Distribution of the South American Beeches
In extra-tropical South America, the beeches are the dominant trees, extending from a point on the west coast of Chile about lat. 33°, southward to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, and crossing the Andes into Argentina. The best account of the Chilean beeches is given by Reiche, from whom, supplemented by my own observations in 1901–1902, I take the following particulars.
Plate 156.
BEECH FOREST IN CHILE
Nothofagus Dombeyi is known to the Chileans by its Indian name of Cozgue, and is a large and common tree in Chile. It is usually associated with N. obliqua, but does not extend so far to the northward, not being found to the north of the Maule river. It is widely spread in Araucania, Valdivia, and Llanquihue, and occurs also on the Argentine side of the frontier. It grows on the island of Chiloe, and has been collected on the river Aysen (lat. 45°); but its extreme southern limit is not accurately known.
Nothofagus nitida, which has been much confused with N. Dombeyi, is a common forest tree in the coast mountains of Valdivia, and grows on Chiloe and the Guaitecas Islands. The distribution of this species has not yet been satisfactorily determined. Nothofagus procera, known as Raul, is less common than N. obliqua, to which it is allied, and usually grows scattered in the forest. Its northerly limit lies between 35° and 36° lat., and it does not occur farther south than the province of Valdivia, where it becomes a stately tree. It does not cross the frontier into Argentina.
Nothofagus antarctica is widely distributed, extending from about lat. 38° to Tierra del Fuego. It is the commonest species which I found on my tour at high elevations, both on the Chilean and Argentine sides of the frontier. It is associated with Araucaria at 4000 feet, and is common also in the plain of Valdivia in marshy situations. In the mountains around the great lake of Nahuelhuapi, the leaves of this species had already assumed their autumnal tint in February. N. antarctica and N. betuloides are the dominant trees in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego; and ​according to Dusén, their distribution is regulated by the amount of rainfall. In the western parts of Tierra del Fuego, where the rainfall is heavy, the coast forest is evergreen and is mainly composed of N. betuloides and Drimys Winteri; and N. antarctica is only met with in the mountains. In the eastern part of Tierra del Fuego, where the rainfall is slight, the latter species descends to sea-level and grows in mixture with N. betuloides and N. pumilio.
In Western Patagonia, the evergreen forest predominates in the Archipelago and on the western side of the mountain range, where much rain falls and the prevailing winds are south-westerly; whereas, on the eastern slopes of the mountains, where the climate is comparatively dry, the forests are composed of deciduous trees. According to Dusén, the deciduous-leaved forest is well seen at a point 30 miles up the River Aysen. In the inland region the ground is covered by a thin park-like forest, which is almost exclusively composed of one species, N. antarctica. This tree does not grow in such close masses as the European beech, and, owing to the absence of dense shade, there is a luxuriant undergrowth of herbs and shrubs. These park-like forests prevail up to 2300 feet. Above this elevation steppes occur, which are studded with small groves of N. pumilio, the ground being covered with mosses. At 3000 feet N. pumilio is only a low tree, which gradually becomes smaller as it ascends, until at 4300 feet it forms a stunted forest of dwarfed trees, with their branches interlaced together.
An earlier account of the Antarctic beeches is given by Sir J.D. Hooker, who states that N. antarctica strongly resembles the European beech in its deciduous leaves, form of trunk, and smooth bark. It ascends much higher at Cape Horn than N. betuloides, and is much the larger tree of the two when it is found growing at sea-level. N. betuloides, however, grows to a very large size about the Straits of Magellan, and being evergreen, is a marked feature of the scenery in winter, as its upper limit is sharply defined, and contrasts with the dazzling snow that covers the matted and naked branches of N. antarctica. Captain King observed many trees of N. betuloides 3 to 4 feet in diameter, one being as large as 7 feet. He describes the wood as heavy and far too brittle for masts or even boat-hooks, but cutting up into tolerable planks. Hooker considered the timber of the deciduous species to be superior.
N. betuloides, while much commoner in the south, extends along the coast range as far north as Valdivia. It is replaced in the Guaitecas Islands by N. Dombeyi and N. nitida.
Nothofagus pumilio has been much confused with N. antarctica, of which it was made var. bicrenata by De Candolle. It is very distinct in both foliage and fruit. It extends from Chillan and Nahuelbuta in Chile southward to the Straits of Magellan, and is usually a shrub, constituting the scrubby growth which prevails ​above timber-line in the mountains, I saw this species near the baths of Chillan, lat. 37°, where it grew as a bush at 6000 to 8000 feet on the crests of the ridges in volcanic soil. According to Reiche, it occurs as undergrowth in the Araucaria forests at 4000 to 5000 feet elevation; but in sheltered situations in the mountains of Valdivia and Llanquihue it occasionally becomes a tree 60 feet in height. (H.J.E.)
* ↑ Bunbury, in Bot. Fragments, 322 (1883), writes an interesting article on the different types of foliage which are met with in this genus.
* ↑ N. alpina, Reiche (Fagus alpina, Poeppig et Endlicher), is a doubtful species.
* ↑ Calucechinus Montagnei, Hombron et Jacquinot, loc. cit. t. 7 (1853). Fagus Montagnei, Philippi, Linnæa, xxix. 45 (1857).
* ↑ Fagus pumilio, Poeppig et Endlicher Nov. Gen. et Sp. ii. 68 t. 195 (1835). Fagus antarctica, var. bicrenata, DC. Prod. xvi. 2, p. 120 (1864).
* ↑ Fagus procera, Poeppig et Endlicher, Nov. Gen. et Sp. ii. 69, t. 197 (1835).
* ↑ Fagus Gunnii, Hooker, Icon. Plant. t. 881 (1852).
* ↑ Fagus apiculata, Colenso, Trans. N. Zeal. Instit. xvi. 335 (1884).
* ↑ Fagus Dombeyi, Mirbel, Mém. Mus. Paris. xiv. 467, t. 24 (1827).
* ↑ Fagus nitida, Philippi, Linnæa, xxix. 44 ( 1857).
* ↑ Fagus Solandri, Hooker, Icon. Plant. t. 639 (1844).
* ↑ Fagus Blairii, Kirk, Trans. N. Zeal. Inst. xvii. 297, 306 (1885).
* ↑ A view of a forest of this species in the South Island at 3000 feet, showing a dense undergrowth of young beech and tall smooth stems of older trees, is given in Schimper, Plant Geography, 760, f. 460 (1904).
* ↑ This is figured as Fagus cliffortioides in Earl Annesley's Beautiful and Rare Trees, 71 (1903).
* ↑ Report on Tasmanian Timbers by Mr. R.A. Ransome, of the Stanley Works, Chelsea, in Kew Bull. 1889, pp. 114, 115.
* ↑ Notes Bot. Antarctic Voyage, 64 (1843); cf. also Loudon, Gard. Mag. 1843, p. 442.
* ↑ Figured in Gard. Chron. xxxiii. 10, f. 5 (1903), where it is erroneously stated to have been introduced from New Zealand.
* ↑ Figured in Gard. Chron. 1872, p. 466, f. 136, and 1886, xxv. 104, f. 18.
* ↑ J. Smith, Records of Kew Gardens, 277 (1880).
* ↑ Gard. Chron. xxv. 104 (1886).
* ↑ Prod. xvi. 2, p. 119 (1864).
* ↑ Gard. Chron. 1849, p. 563; Lindley, Journ. Hort. Soc. vi. 265 (1851); Lindley and Paxton, Flower Garden, ii. 166 (1852).
* ↑ Cf. Kew Bull. 1906, p. 379.
* ↑ Prod. xvi. 2, 120 (1864). De Candolle's var. bicernata is Nothofagus pumilio.
* ↑ Cf. Kew Bull, 1906, p. 381.
* ↑ Beiträge Kenntniss Chilen. Buchen (Valparaiso, 1897).
* ↑ I found this species in the low country about Temuco in Chile, and also on the Argentine side of the frontier in two or three localities. Two other species also occur:—M. oblongifolium, DC., which I found on Nothofagus antarctica, near the baths of Chillan at 5000 to 7000 feet elevation; and M. punctulatum, DC., which I gathered on Nothofagus Dombeyi at Lake Meliquina, and in the dense evergreen forest which skirts the glaciers of the great Tronador mountain at 2000 feet in lat. 40°.
* ↑ Princeton Univ. Exped. Patagonia, Botany 2, 10, 26 (1903-1906); and Engler, Bot. Jahrbüch. xxiv. 179 (1897).
* ↑ Fl. Antarct. ii. 345.
* ↑ Voyage of the "Adventure" and "Beagle," i. 576 (1839). Ball, Notes of a Naturalist in S. America, 225, says that N. betuloides "has a thick trunk, commonly three or four feet in diameter, but nowhere attains any great height. Forty feet appeared to me the outside limit attained by any that I saw at Eden Harbour or elsewhere."
* ↑ Reiche, loc. cit.
* ↑ Dusén, loc. cit.