Nothofagus betuloides

Last updated

Magellan's beech
Nothofagus betuloides.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Nothofagaceae
Genus: Nothofagus
Subgenus: Nothofagus subg. Nothofagus
Species:
N. betuloides
Binomial name
Nothofagus betuloides
Synonyms [2]
  • Betula antarctica G.Forst.
  • Calusparassus betuloides (Mirb.) Hombr. & Jacquinot ex Decne.
  • Calusparassus forsteri (Hook.) Hombr. & Jacquinot ex Decne.
  • Fagus betuloides Mirb.
  • Fagus dubia Mirb.
  • Fagus forsteri Hook.
  • Nothofagus betuloides (Mirb.) Blume
  • Nothofagus dubia (Mirb.) Oerst.
  • Nothofagus dubia (Mirb.) Blume
  • Nothofagus forsteri (Hook.) Krasser
  • Nothofagus patagonica Gand.

Nothofagus betuloides, Magellan's beech [1] or guindo, is a tree native to southern Patagonia.

Contents

In 1769, Sir Joseph Banks collected a specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during Captain Cook's first voyage. [3]

Its occurrence on Hornos Island earns it the distinction of being the southernmost tree on Earth. [4]

Distribution

Nothofagus betuloides grows from southern Chile and southern Argentina (40°S) to Tierra del Fuego (56°S). It is found from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft) above mean sea level. One specimen growing near the southeastern corner of Hornos Island (Cape Horn) was identified in 2019 as the southernmost tree in the world. [4]

Description

It is an evergreen tree up to 25 m (82 ft) tall, with a columnar appearance. In its natural environment, it tolerates cold winters and absence of heat in summer. Specimens from the southern forests resist temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F).

Cultivation

It succeeds in Scotland. Trees planted in the Faroe Islands, which were imported directly from its southernmost distribution in Tierra del Fuego, have turned out to be very hardy. [5]

The wood has beautiful marks, and is pinkish, hard, and semiheavy; it is used in furniture and construction.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tierra del Fuego</span> Archipelago off the south of South America

Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, with an area of 48,100 km2 (18,572 sq mi), and a group of many islands, including Cape Horn and Diego Ramírez Islands. Tierra del Fuego is divided between Chile and Argentina, with the latter controlling the eastern half of the main island and the former the western half plus the islands south of Beagle Channel and the southernmost islands. The southernmost extent of the archipelago is just north of latitude 56°S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magellanic subpolar forests</span> Ecoregion of southernmost South America

The Magellanic subpolar forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and contains the world's southernmost forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego</span> Island of Argentina and Chile

Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego also formerly Isla de Xátiva is an island near the southern tip of South America from which it is separated by the Strait of Magellan. The western portion (61.4%) of the island is in Chile, while the eastern portion is in Argentina. It forms the major landmass in an extended group of islands or archipelago also known as Tierra del Fuego.

<i>Pilgerodendron</i> Species of plant

Pilgerodendron is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family Cupressaceae. It has only one species, Pilgerodendron uviferum, which is endemic to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests of southern Chile and southwestern Argentina. It grows from 40 to 54°20' S in Tierra del Fuego, where it is the southernmost conifer in the world. It is a member of subfamily Callitroideae, a group of distinct Southern Hemisphere genera associated with the Antarctic flora.

<i>Nothofagus antarctica</i> Species of plant

Nothofagus antarctica is a deciduous tree or shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina from about 36°S to Tierra del Fuego, where it grows mainly in the diminishing temperate rainforest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoste Island</span> Island in southern Chile

Hoste Island is one of the southernmost islands in Chile, lying south, across the Beagle Channel, from Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and west of Navarino Island, from which it is separated by the Murray Channel. Hoste Island has the southernmost trees on earth, Nothofagus antarctica. In Magellania, Jules Verne described an imaginary republic on the island.

<i>Nothofagus pumilio</i> Species of plant

Nothofagus pumilio, the lenga beech, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the Nothofagaceae family that is native to the southern Andes range, in the temperate forests of Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego, from 35° to 56° South latitude. This tree is in the same genus as the coihue. It regenerates easily after fires. The wood is of good quality, moderate durability, and is easy to work with. It is used in furniture, shingles and construction and sometimes as a substitute for American black cherry in the manufacturing of cabinets.

<i>Nothofagus dombeyi</i> Species of plant

Nothofagus dombeyi, Dombey's beech, coigue, coihue or coigüe is a tree species native to southern Chile and the Andean parts of Argentine Patagonia. It is a fast-growing species that can live in a wide range of climatic conditions, and forms dense forests. It is cultivated for its timber, and as an ornamental subject.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navarino Island</span> Island in southern Chile

Navarino Island is a Chilean island located between Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, to the north, and Cape Horn, to the south. The island forms part of the Commune of Cabo de Hornos, the southernmost commune in Chile and in the world, belonging to Antártica Chilena Province in the XII Region of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica. Its population is concentrated primarily in the communal capital, Puerto Williams, and in small settlements like Puerto Navarino, Río Guanaco and Puerto Toro. The highest point of the island is Pico Navarino at 1,195 m (3,921 ft). The island is a popular destination for fly-fishers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberto de Agostini National Park</span>

Alberto de Agostini National Park is a protected area that was created on January 22, 1965, on land that was formerly part of the "Hollanda" forest reserve and "Hernando de Magallanes National Park". It covers 1,460,000 hectares and includes the Cordillera Darwin mountain range, which is the final land-based stretch of the Andes before it becomes a chain of mountains appearing as small islands that sink into the Pacific Ocean and the Beagle Channel.

<i>Drimys winteri</i> Species of tree from South America

Drimys winteri, the winter's bark or canelo, is a slender tree in the family Winteraceae, growing up to 20 m (66 ft) tall. It is native to the Magellanic and Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and Argentina, where it is a dominant tree in the coastal evergreen forests. It is found below 1,200 m (3,900 ft) between latitude 32° south and Cape Horn at latitude 56°. In its southernmost natural range it can tolerate temperatures down to −20 °C (−4 °F). The plant is renowned for its phenotypic plasticity being able to grow in different sites from "extreme arid zones to wetlands along Chile". The tree does also grow in places with various types and degrees of competition from other plants.

<i>Maytenus magellanica</i> Species of plant

Maytenus magellanica is a small evergreen tree from the genus Maytenus, up to 5 meters (16 ft), in the Celastraceae. It grows in southern Argentina and Chile from 36ºS to Cape Horn (56ºS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornos Island</span> Subantarctic island of Chile, known for Cape Horn

Hornos Island is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther south. The island is one of the Hermite Islands, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora of the Faroe Islands</span> Plant species of the Faroe Islands

The flora of the Faroe Islands consists of over 400 different plant species. Most of the lowland area is grassland and some is heather, mainly Calluna vulgaris. The Faroese nature is characterized by the lack of trees and resembles that of Connemara and Dingle in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-throated treerunner</span> Species of bird

The white-throated treerunner is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is the only species in the genus Pygarrhichas. The white-throated treerunner is about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, with a stiff and rounded tail. The upperparts are dark brown, turning red on the lower back and tail and contrasting sharply with the throat and chest of a bright white. The rest of the underparts are coarsely mottled with white. The bill is long, slightly curved upwards. The general appearance is reminiscent of a nuthatch, although they are not directly related. Like the Sittidae, Furnariidae tirelessly scours the trunks and branches of old trees for the small arthropods that make up its food, spiraling up the trunks, or sometimes moving head down. The white-throated treerunner consumes small invertebrates found on bark and nests in tree cavities. Outside of the breeding season, it may form mixed-species foraging flocks with other bird species.

<i>Nothofagus alpina</i> Species of plant

Nothofagus alpina, also called rauli or raulí beech is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. A deciduous tree, it grows in Chile and Argentina, it reaches 50 m (160 ft) height and more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) in diameter. Its distribution goes from 35 to 42° South latitude. It is found on the Andes. It tolerates low temperatures and heavy winds. It has a straight and cylindrical trunk with grey bark. N. alpina was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia alpina in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tierra del Fuego National Park</span> Argentine park

Tierra del Fuego National Park is a national park on the Argentine part of the island of Tierra del Fuego, within Tierra del Fuego Province in the ecoregion of Patagonic Forest and Altos Andes, a part of the subantarctic forest. Established on 15 October 1960 under the Law 15.554 and expanded in 1966, it was the first shoreline national park to be established in Argentina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern big-eared brown bat</span> Species of bat

The southern big-eared brown bat is a species of bat from the family Vespertilionidae. Although current taxonomy treats the southern big-eared brown bat as a separate species, it is often treated as a subspecies of the small big-eared brown bat. It lives in the forests of southern Argentina and Chile; though the population of the bat in the southern part of its habitat is low, there are no major concerns to justify anything lower than a Least Concern rating in the IUCN Red List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosque Andino Patagónico</span> Forest in Chile and Argentina

Bosque Andino Patagónico, also known as Patagonian Andean forest, is a type of temperate to cold forest located in southern Chile and western Patagonia in Argentina at the southern end of South America. The climate here is influenced by humid air masses moving in from the Pacific Ocean which lose most of their moisture as they rise over the Andes. The flora is dominated by trees, usually of the genus Nothofagus.

The Botany of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguelen's Land, Etc. is a description of the plants discovered in these islands during the Ross expedition written by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published by Reeve Brothers in London between 1845 and 1847. Hooker sailed on HMS Erebus as assistant surgeon. It was the second in a series of four Floras in the Flora Antarctica, the others being the Flora of Lord Auckland and Campbell's Islands (1843-1845), the Flora Novae-Zelandiae (1851–1853), and the Flora Tasmaniae (1853–1859). They were "splendidly" illustrated by Walter Hood Fitch.

References

  1. 1 2 Baldwin, H. (2018). "Nothofagus betuloides". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2018: e.T96477315A96479945. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T96477315A96479945.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species".
  3. Kew gardens, or A popular guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew by Sir W.J. Hooker
  4. 1 2 Welch, Craig (July 2020). "The tree at the bottom of the world—and the wind-blasted trek to find it". National Geographic . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  5. Højgaard, A., J. Jóhansen, and S. Ødum (eds) 1989. A century of tree planting in the Faroe Islands. Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Torshavn.