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Nothofagus obliqua
Also called Southern beech
Roble beech (Nothofagus obliqua) is a large deciduous forest tree from Chile and Argentina, reaching up to 50 m, valued for its durable timber. It is grown as a landscape tree in cool temperate climates, and frost hardiness depends heavily on seed origin.
Nothofagus obliqua, commonly known as Patagonian oak, roble, pellín, roble pellín, and hualle in its early state of growth or roble beech, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. It grows from 33 to 43° south latitude. The northern extent of this tree's range in Chile is considered to be the Vizcachas Mountains and La Campana National Park. N. obliqua was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia obliqua in 2013.
The tree was introduced to the British Isles in 1849. Material with provenance from different places in its natural environment was tested in cultivation in Scotland. Trees cultivated from material collected from Ñuble, which is the provenance closest to the Equator, were the most damaged by frosts. Unfortunately seeds of that provenance were supplied to many commercial growers in the 1970s in the United Kingdom. Seeds sourced from Neuquen in Argentina proved the hardiest. A selection from Malleco, Chile, which is the provenance of the first trees planted in the British Isles also gave good hardiness results. It has also been planted on the North Pacific Coast of the United States.
Experimental plantations established in Wales suffered severe damage during the 1981–1982 cold wave that swept through Britain.
Rauli · Antarctic Beech · Magellan's Beech · Mountain Beech · Myrtle Beech · Coigue · Red Beech · Roble Colorado · Nothofagus macrocarpa · Silver Beech · Lenga Beech · Black Beech
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nothofagus obliqua 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.
