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Nothofagus cunninghamii
Also called Antarctic Beech, Tasmanian Myrtle, Southern Beech
Myrtle beech is a tree of cool temperate rainforests in Tasmania and southern Victoria, ranging from tall valley trees to low alpine shrubs. It grows best in partial shade and needs reliably moist conditions, and it has low fire resistance.
Nothofagus cunninghamii, commonly known as myrtle beech or Tasmanian myrtle, is the dominant species of cool temperate rainforests in Tasmania and Southern Victoria. It has low fire resistance and grows best in partial shade conditions.
It has rough bark covered in mosses and epiphytic growth. Its leaves are triangular-shaped, small, and dark green with differentiated margins. It has white unisexual flowers.
It is an excellent cabinetry timber which is hard with strong, tough, close grain. It is a soft pink to reddish brown, often figured and can be polished to a fine sheen. It is used for flooring, joinery, cogs of wheels, and furniture, and is good for steam bending, turnery and carving. It is harvested from old growth forest but the vast majority of the timber is left on the ground as it grows with the heavily harvested mountain ash. Dry density is 700 kg/m3.
It is easily grown from fresh seed, germinating in a few weeks.
N. cunninghamii is the dominant species in cool temperate rainforest across Tasmania and southern Victoria.
Rauli · Antarctic Beech · Magellan's Beech · Mountain Beech · Coigue · Red Beech · Roble Colorado · Nothofagus macrocarpa · Silver Beech · Roble beech · Lenga Beech · Black Beech
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nothofagus cunninghamii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
