''Nothofagus betuloides'', Magellan's beech or ''guindo'', is a tree native to southern

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

. In 1769,

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...

collected a specimen of the tree in

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla G ...

during

Captain Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

's first voyage. Its occurrence on

Hornos Island Hornos Island ( es, Isla Hornos) is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islan ...

earns it the distinction of being the southernmost tree on Earth.

Distribution

''Nothofagus betuloides'' grows from southern

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 east a ...

and southern

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 second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(40°S) to Tierra del Fuego (56°S). It is found from sea level to above mean sea level. One specimen growing near the southeastern corner of

(

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

) was identified in 2019 as the southernmost tree in the world.

Description

It is an evergreen tree up to tall, with a columnar appearance. In its natural environment, it tolerates cold winters and absence of heat in summer. Specimens from the southern forests resist temperatures down to .

Cultivation

It succeeds in

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 the ...

. Trees planted in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, which were imported directly from its southernmost distribution in Tierra del Fuego, have turned out to be very hardy.Højgaard, A., J. Jóhansen, and S. Ødum (eds) 1989. A century of tree planting in the Faroe Islands. Føroya Frodskaparfelag, Torshavn. The wood has beautiful marks, and is pinkish, hard, and semiheavy; it is used in furniture and construction. File:NothofagusBetuloides2.jpg, Illustration from specimens collected by the ''Endeavour'', Tierra del Fuego, 1769 File:Flora Antarctica Plate CXXIV.jpg, ''Fagus betuloides'' in

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...

's ''

Flora Antarctica The ''Flora Antarctica'', or formally and correctly ''The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843, under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross'', is a description of the many plants ...

'' 1844–1846, from the Ross expedition of 1839–1843

References

* Donoso, C. 2005. Árboles nativos de Chile. Guía de reconocimiento. Edición 4. Marisa Cuneo Ediciones,

Valdivia, Chile Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau ...

. 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. * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q726488 Nothofagaceae Flora of southern Chile Flora of South Argentina Trees of mild maritime climate Trees of subpolar oceanic climate Garden plants of South America Ornamental trees Fagales of Argentina Fagales of Chile