100 NOTHOFAGUS 



equilaterally triangular ; |- to in. long, from half to quite as much wide ; 

 the base broadly wedge-shaped or truncate, and entire ; the upper part more 

 tapering, pointed and blunt toothed ; both surfaces smooth ; stalk downy, 

 very short. 



Native of Tasmania, where, according to the elevation at which it grows, it 

 varies from a shrub to an enormous timber tree. There is a good specimen 

 in the Royal Gardens at Osborne, Isle of Wight, which I saw abundantly in 

 flower in September 1907. The husk, which encloses three nuts, is very 

 curious ; it is divided into four narrow lobes scarcely J in. long, each bristled 

 over with short decurved scales terminated by a globular gland very much 

 resembling the stigma of many flowers. Two of the nuts are three-sided, the 

 third is two-sided. The tree is rare in cultivation, and is only suited for the 

 milder counties. The best specimen is .at Fota, near Cork (50 ft. high). 



Bearing a close resemblance in general habit to N. Cunninghami is a 

 New Zealand species N. MENZIESII, Oerstedt (Fagus Menziesii, Hooker fil.}. 

 Its foliage and twigs are very much like those of Cunningham's beech, but 

 the leaves are readily distinguished by having the margin doubly instead of 

 singly round-toothed, and still more by one or two curious little pits situated 

 beneath the leaf. These pits are placed in the axils of the second pair of 

 veins from the base, and are lined with brownish down. The trunk of this 

 tree is said to be silvery, like a birch. 



N. FUSCA, Oerstedt. 



(Fagus fusca, Hooker Jil.~) 



An evergreen tree of the largest size, described as IQO ft. high in nature ; 

 young shoots minutely downy, and in cultivated specimens very zigzagged. 

 Leaves broadly ovate to roundish, f to i| ins. long, smooth except on the 

 coarsely toothed margins, which are ciliate, especially on the notches, wedge- 

 shaped to truncate at the base ; leaf-stalk downy, about ^ in. long ; veins in 

 usually three or four pairs. Husk of fruit nearly -| in. long, four-lobed, con- 

 taining three nuts. 



Native of New Zealand, where it yields a useful timber. The largest I have 

 noted in the British Isles is at Castlewellan, Co. Down, which, when I saw it 

 in February 1913, was from 20 to 25 ft. high. There is a healthy young tree 

 in the Coombe Wood nursery, of bushy habit and about 12 ft. high, which 

 seems to show that it is hardier than is generally supposed. The old leaves 

 turn red before they fall. 



N. MOOREI, Krasser. AUSTRALIAN BEECH. 



(Fagus Moorei, Mueller.") 



Of the Nothofagus group of beeches, this has the largest leaves of any 

 cultivated out-of-doors in this country. They are glossy dark green, ovate- 

 lanceolate or ovate ; i^ to 3 ins. long, f to i^ ins. wide ; the base wedge- 

 shaped, the apex taper-pointed ; sharply toothed ; stalk -^ in. long. The 

 whole leaf is smooth except the stalk and the upper surface of the midrib ; 

 the lateral veins are prominent, and in nine to fifteen pairs. Young twigs 

 covered with brownish down ; stipules very narrow, | to \ in. long. 



This is an evergreen tree described as becoming 150 ft. high, and was 

 discovered in New South Wales by the late Charles Moore of Sydney. There 

 is a tree over 20 ft. high growing in the grounds of Kilmacurragh, Co. 

 Wicklow, but this beech is only likely to be hardy in the very mildest parts 

 of the British Isles. Introduced to Kew in 1892. 



