''Nothofagus alpina'', also called rauli or raulí beech (in

Mapuche language Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

) is a species of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...

in the Nothofagaceae family. A

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

tree, it grows in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

, 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 The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. 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.

Description

Monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is ...

and leafy. Alternate

leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, st ...

, petioles 3 to 12 mm long, oblong ovate to lanceolate ovate, with glands and hairs regularly distributed, undulate margins and softly serrated. Lamina 4 to 12 x 2,5 to 5 cm, pinnate veins, pilose and very notorious, mostly below the leaf, new borne green shoots pubescent with brown felt-like hairs.

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

little unisexual: male in clusters of 3 flowers, briefly pedicellate, numerous stamens, male flowers disposed in 3 inflorescences supported by a peduncle about 1 cm long.

Fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...

made up by a cupule of 4 narrow valves, in its interior 2 to 3 little yellowish nuts 6 mm long, a little hairy, being the two lower triangular, tri-winged, and the flat internal, bi-winged. Raulí wood is pinkish with brown-reddish color and has a very fine grain. It is relatively easy to work and of medium weight. It is used in furniture, barrels for very fine Chilean

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

s, doors, veneers, shingles and floors. It has been introduced as ornamental in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and it grows well in Western

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where it gets the necessary rainfall for its good growth; minimum 750 mm (30 in). It is very promising as a forestry tree in Western

and regenerates easily after coppicing. File:Nothofagus-procera-habit.JPG , Young tree. File:HojasRauli.jpg, Leaves. File:FloresRauli.jpg, Flowers.

Frost hardiness study in Britain

Provenance sources from different places from its natural environment were tested in cultivation at the Bush estate in

. Seedlots of Nothofagus alpina and Nothofagus obliqua were tested. The results of the testing in relation to the sources were reported as: * Ñuble in

. This was the most equatorial source and these seedlots proved to be the most susceptible to frost. * Neuquen in

. These seedlots, as well as those gathered from mature trees growing in Britain with origins from Malleco in

were the most hardy. Overall, Nothofagus alpina performed better than Nothofagus obliqua. Past temperature records for Britain suggest that seedlots run a high risk of suffering severe frost damage in all but mild coastal regions, and that spring and autumn frosts may be more damaging than winter frosts. Experimental plantations established in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

suffered severe damage during the 1981–1982 cold wave that swept through Britain.

Other locations

At Nautesund in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

where the extreme minimum annual temperature is -14 °C, combined with a south-facing exposure, good rainfall, and shelter from polar winds allow specimens of Rauli to grow.

Hybrids

* ''Nothofagus alpina'' hybridises with '' Nothofagus obliqua'' to form the hybrid species ''Nothofagus × dodecaphleps''.

References and external links

* Donoso, C. 2005. Árboles nativos de Chile. Guía de reconocimiento. Edición 4. Marisa Cuneo Ediciones, Valdivia, Chile. 136p. * Hoffmann, Adriana. 1998. Flora Silvestre de Chile, Zona Central. Edición 4. Fundación Claudio Gay, Santiago. 254p. *Rodríguez, R. & Quezada, M. 2003. Fagaceae. En C. Marticorena y R. Rodríguez ds. Flora de Chile Vol. 2(2), pp 64–76. Universidad de Concepción, Concepción. *Bean. W. 1981 Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray. *

External links

in ''Encyclopedia of Chilean Flora''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1317892, from2=Q42747070 Nothofagaceae Flora of Argentina Flora of central Chile Trees of Chile Trees of Argentina Trees of mild maritime climate Near threatened flora of South America Garden plants of South America Ornamental trees Taxonomy articles created by Polbot