Nothofagaceae

 

This Family was created, as a result of modern DNA assessments, to house the genus Nothofagus when it was deemed not to fit in the Fagaceae.

 

Nothofagus

 

This genus of the ‘Southern Beeches’ is limited to the Southern Hemisphere in South America and Australasia. It contains about 38 species of trees and shrubs - many of which are subtropical or tropical. Species suitable for cultivation in temperate climates are more or less limited to those which are native to Chile and Argentina and New Zealand. Some of the species from the furthest south of South America are extremely hardy and have been successful as far north as the Faroe Islands. W Arnold Foster (1950) in his ‘Trees and shrubs for the milder Counties’, which was compiled on experiences of the twenties and thirties, eulogised this genus - but they did not really ‘catch on’; However there was resurgence of interest in the seventies when the Forestry Commission started to promote certain South American species for quick growing timber production.

 

They are, in general, tall, forest trees with single stems and an upright habit. They are chiefly evergreen but some are deciduous; they have a light, airy, ornamental and elegant structure and the deciduous species have good autumn colour.

 

The following species have a temperate distribution and can be grown in the UK, albeit the species from New Zealand are not as hardy as those from South America:- from South America - chiefly the temperate rainforests of Southern Argentina and Chile - N. antarctica, N. betuloides, N. dombeyi, N. nitida, N. obliqua, N. procera (N. alpina) and N. pumilio; from the temperate rainforests of New Zealand - N. fusca, N. menziesii, N. solandri solandri, N. solandri cliffortoides and N. truncata; from Tasmania - N. cunninghamii.

 

The fruit is a nut (cupule) which is not dissimilar to beech, which when mature - in the autumn - splits, while still on the tree, to release the seeds; there are between 2 and 7 seeds in a cupule - the end two are three angled and the middle nuts are ‘flat’.

 

The seeds are just big enough to handle and can be picked up from the ground but are more conveniently picked just before the release stage and then gently dried – when the nuts will open readily and the seeds separate. In common with many of such seeds the food storage material will deteriorate if they are dried – hence the seeds should be collected as soon as is feasible and then cold stored at low temperature under water conserving conditions. Viability, in the short term, is usually good and normally exceeds 90%.

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The seeds of the great majority of temperate species exhibit a simple cold temperature dormancy control. The period of chilling for each species can be quite different and the threshold temperature will depend on the provenance of the sample, as many – especially the South American species - have an extensive north-south distribution.

 

As a general rule all the temperate species can be chilled at 3˚C for 70 days – this will cover all and those species with a lesser requirement are not harmed by an attenuated treatment.

 

Germination is prolific at 20˚C and will often occur in as little as 14 days. Seedlings will usually develop quickly and make 50 to 60cm in height in the first season.