''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech ( mi, tawhai, tahina), is a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

of the

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Its common name probably comes from the fact that its bark is whitish in colour, particularly in younger specimens.John Dawson and Rob Lucas "''The Nature Guide to the New Zealand Forest''", Godwit, 2000 It is found from Thames southwards in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

(except

Mount Taranaki/Egmont Mount Taranaki (), also known as Mount Egmont, is a dormant stratovolcano in the Taranaki region on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is the second highest point in the North Island, after Mount Ruapehu. The mountain has a secon ...

),H.H. Allan, "''Flora of New Zealand,volume 1''",Government Printer, 1961 and throughout the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. Silver beech is a forest tree up to 30 m tall. The trunk, which is often buttressed, may be up to 2 m in diameter. J. T. Salmon, "''A Field Guide to the Native Trees of New Zealand''", Reed Methuen, 1986 The

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

are small, thick and almost round in shape, 6 to 15 mm long and 5 to 15 mm wide with rounded teeth which usually occur in pairs, 1 or 2 hair fringed

domatia A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabi ...

are found on the underside of each leaf. Its

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

name is tawhai. It grows from low altitudes to the mountains. ''Nothofagus menziesii'' was proposed to be renamed ''Lophozonia menziesii'' in 2013.

Distribution

Alongside mountain beech (''Nothofagus solandri'' var. ''cliffortioides''), silver beech is the most widely distributed beech taxon in

. Predominantly found in cold wet forests from the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

to the bottom of the

. No beeches are present on

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. In the

its geographical range extends from sea level to the treeline, while in the North Island they are restricted mainly to montane and subalpine forests on ranges and central volcanoes. Silver beech forests generally dominate wetter regions in the South Island within

Fiordland Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes, ...

and

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...

. Silver beech trees typically dominate other species of beech in increasingly wet and cold environments, due to its competitive advantage in greater tolerance of low soil nutrients, greater shade tolerance and lower thermal optimum for photosynthesis. Extensive pure silver beech forests are commonly found in high altitude environments between 500 m and the timberline, but also exist in valley floors, especially in inland valleys where atmospheric and soil moisture is high. Throughout the New Zealand landscape there are areas that have suitable soils and conditions, yet lack the presence of southern beech trees and given the common term of ‘beech gap’. There are several hypotheses as to why these gaps occur, including glaciation, volcanic activity and drought. Also theorised that it might be caused due to drought from Māori lighting forest fires pre-European settlement. The most significant example of a beech gap is located in central

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, ...

in the South Island, two areas of high endemicity (

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, and northwest Nelson) are separated by low diversity.

Cultivation and uses

The wood is hard and is used for furniture. It is not durable outdoors. The bark contains a black dye and tannin which is used for tanning leather.

References

External links

University of Waikato: ''Nothofagus''

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q1434315, from2=Q42747105 Nothofagaceae Endemic flora of New Zealand Trees of New Zealand Garden plants of New Zealand Ornamental trees