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Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of about 35 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and shrubs
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator....
 in southern South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
, Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
) and Australasia
Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
 (east & southeast Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and New Caledonia
New Caledonia

New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
). Fossils have recently been found in Antarctica
Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctica of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean....
.

In the past they were included in the family Fagaceae
Fagaceae

The family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts....
, but genetic tests by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
 revealed them to be genetically distinct, and they are now included in a family their own, the Nothofagaceae.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are toothed or entire, evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 or deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
.






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Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of about 35 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of tree
TREE

TREE was a Boston hardcore punk band formed in the summer of 1990. They were active in the Boston music scene until disbanding in 2002....
s and shrubs
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
 native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is south of the equator?the word sphere literally means 'half ball'. It is also that half of the celestial sphere south of the celestial equator....
 in southern South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 (Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
, Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
) and Australasia
Australasia

Australasia is a region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes ....
 (east & southeast Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
, Tasmania
Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and States and territories of Australia of the same name. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, being separated from it by Bass Strait....
, New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, New Guinea
New Guinea

New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the List of islands by area, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known as the Torres Strait flooded after the last glacial period....
 and New Caledonia
New Caledonia

New Caledonia , is a "sui generis collectivity" of France located in the subregion of Melanesia in the Oceania. It comprises a main island , the Loyalty Islands, and several smaller islands....
). Fossils have recently been found in Antarctica
Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctica of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean....
.

In the past they were included in the family Fagaceae
Fagaceae

The family Fagaceae, or beech family, comprises about 900 species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs, which are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like nuts....
, but genetic tests by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
 revealed them to be genetically distinct, and they are now included in a family their own, the Nothofagaceae.

The leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 are toothed or entire, evergreen
Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant having leaf all year round. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage for part of the year....
 or deciduous
Deciduous

Deciduous means falling off at maturity or tending to fall off and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe....
. The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is a small, flattened or triangular nut
Nut (fruit)

Nut is a general term for the large, dry, oily seed or fruit of some plant. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts....
, borne in cupules containing 2-7 nuts.

Nothofagus species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
 of hepialid
Hepialidae

The Hepialidae is a Scientific classification of insects in the lepidopteran Scientific classification. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths....
 moth
Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the Order Lepidoptera. The differences between butterflies and moths are more than just taxonomy....
s of the genus Aenetus
Aenetus

Aenetus is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 24 described species found in Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand....
 including A. eximia and A. virescens.

Many individuals are extremely old, and at one time it was believed that some populations could not reproduce in present-day conditions at the location where they were growing, except by sucker
Sucker

Sucker may refer to:* Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection* Basal shoot or sucker, a shoot or cane that grows from the base of a tree or shrub...
ing (clonal reproduction), being remnant forest from a cooler time. It has since been shown that sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction

Sexual reproduction is characterized by processes that pass a Genetic recombination of Genetics material to offspring, resulting in Genetic diversity....
 may occur , but distribution in cool, isolated high-altitude environments at temperate
Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
 and tropical latitude
Latitude

Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps ....
s is consistent with the theory that the species was more prolific in a cooler age.

Taxonomy

The genus is classified in the following sections: Sect. Brassospora (type Nothofagus brassi)
  • Nothofagus aequilateralis (New Caledonia)
  • Nothofagus balansae (New Caledonia)
  • Nothofagus baumanniae
    Nothofagus baumanniae

    Nothofagus baumanniae is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to New Caledonia. Category:Flora of New Caledonia...
     (New Caledonia)
  • Nothofagus brassii (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus carrii (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus codonandra (New Caledonia)
  • Nothofagus crenata (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus discoidea
    Nothofagus discoidea

    Nothofagus discoidea is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to New Caledonia. Category:Flora of New Caledonia...
     (New Caledonia)
  • Nothofagus flaviramea (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus grandis (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus nuda
    Nothofagus nuda

    Nothofagus nuda is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to Papua New Guinea. Category:Flora of Papua New Guinea It is threatened by habitat loss....
     (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus perryi (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus pseudoresinosa (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus pullei (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus resinosa (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus rubra (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus starkenborghii (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus stylosa
    Nothofagus stylosa

    Nothofagus stylosa is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to Indonesia. Category:Flora of Indonesia...
     (New Guinea)
  • Nothofagus womersleyi
    Nothofagus womersleyi

    Nothofagus womersleyi is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to Indonesia. Category:Flora of Indonesia It is threatened by habitat loss....
     (New Guinea)


Sect. Fuscospora (type Nothofagus fusca)
  • Nothofagus alessandri
    Nothofagus alessandri

    Nothofagus alessandri is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. It is Endemism to Chile. Category:Flora of Chile It is threatened by habitat loss....
     (Central Chile)
  • Nothofagus fusca
    Nothofagus fusca

    Nothofagus fusca is a species of Nothofagus, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both North Island and South Island. It occurs to low altitudes to the mountains....
     (New Zealand)
  • Nothofagus gunnii (Australia: Tasmania)
  • Nothofagus solandri
    Nothofagus solandri

    Nothofagus solandri var. solandri and var. cliffitoides is a species of Nothofagus, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both North Island and South Island....
     (New Zealand)
  • Nothofagus truncata
    Nothofagus truncata

    Nothofagus truncata or Hard Beech is a species of tree endemism to New Zealand. Its common name derives from the fact that its wood has a high silica content, making it hard and difficult to saw....
     (New Zealand)


Sect. Lophozonia (type Nothofagus menziesii)
  • Nothofagus alpina
    Nothofagus alpina

    Nothofagus alpina is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. Deciduous tree, it grows in Chile and Argentina , it reaches 50 m height and more than 2 meters in diameter....
     (=N. procera) (Central Chile)
  • Nothofagus cunninghamii (Australia: Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania)
  • Nothofagus glauca
    Nothofagus glauca

    Nothofagus glauca is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. It is Endemism to Chile. It grows from 34 to 37? South latitude. Up to 30 m height and 2 m diameter....
     (Central Chile)
  • Nothofagus macrocarpa (Central Chile)
  • Nothofagus menziesii
    Nothofagus menziesii

    Nothofagus menziesii or Silver beech is a tree of the Nothofagus or southern beech genus endemism to New Zealand. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younger specimens....
     (New Zealand)
  • Nothofagus moorei
    Nothofagus moorei

    Nothofagus moorei, once referred to as 'Negrohead beech', but now as 'Antarctic beech' is an evergreen tree native to the eastern highlands of Australia....
     (Australia: New South Wales, Queensland)
  • Nothofagus obliqua
    Nothofagus obliqua

    Nothofagus obliqua, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. Coyan grows from 33 to 43? South Latitude, in Chile and Argentina. The northern extent of this tree's range in Chile is considered to be the Vizcachas Mountains and La Campana National Park....
     (South America)


Sect. Nothofagus (type Nothofagus antarctica)
  • Nothofagus antarctica
    Nothofagus antarctica

    Nothofagus antarctica , is a deciduous tree or shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina from about 36?S latitude south to Tierra del Fuego ....
     (South America)
  • Nothofagus betuloides
    Nothofagus betuloides

    Nothofagus betuloides is an evergreen tree, up to 25 meters , columnar appearance, in its natural environment it tolerates cold winters and absence of heat in summer....
     (South America)
  • Nothofagus dombeyi (Central Chile and Andean Patagonia)
  • Nothofagus nitida
    Nothofagus nitida

    Nothofagus nitida is an evergreen tree, native from Chile, it lives from 40? to ?ltima Esperanza Province . Up to 35 m height and 2 m diameter....
     (South America)
  • Nothofagus pumilio (South America)


Distribution

The pattern of distribution around the southern Pacific rim
Pacific Rim

The Pacific Rim refers to the countries and cities located around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There are many economic centers around the Pacific Rim, such as Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Lima, Los Angeles, California, Manila, Melbourne, Panama City, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, California, San Francisco, Cali...
 suggests that the dissemination of the genus dates to the time when Antarctica
Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, overlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctica of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean....
, Australia and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
 were connected, a common land-mass referred to as Gondwanaland.

In South America the northern genus limit can be construed as La Campana National Park
La Campana National Park

La Campana National Park is located in the Cordillera de la Costa, Quillota Province, in the Valpara?so Region of Chile. La Campana National Park and the Vizcachas Mountains lie northwest of Santiago....
 and the Vizcachas Mountains
Vizcachas Mountains

The Vizcachas Mountains are a mountainous landform northwest of Santiago, Chile. Part of the Vizcachas Range was incorporated into a protected area contiguous with La Campana National Park, under a recommendation made in 1993; this protection was applied to assist in maintaining biodiversity in a region which has had pressure to the eco...
 in the central part of Chile.