Nothofagus pumilio

Lenga southern beech

The lenga southern beech ( Nothofagus pumilio ) is a Scheinbuchenart from the family of note Fagaceae ( Nothofagaceae ).

Features

The lenga southern beech is a deciduous tree that reaches a height of up to 30 meters and a diameter of up to 1.5 meters. The bark is light gray and deeply fissured lengthwise. The two lines arranged on the branch and standing at 2-6 millimeters long stems leaves are elliptical, the leaf blade is 2 to 4 inches long and 1.4 to 3 inches wide.

The male flowers are at about 4 mm long pedicles. You have overgrown bracts that form a perianth with five to seven lobes and have 15 to 20 stamens. The female flowers are sessile.

The fruits are small, 6-7 mm long nuts. The two of them are from a pericarp ( cupula ) surrounded together.

Distribution and habitat

The lenga southern beech is found in Chile in temperate regions of Talca down to Cape Horn at all altitudes between sea level and tree line. Similarly it is also found in Argentina. It is part of the forests of the Andes and Patagonia.

They settled areas with low temperatures and poor soils can form large forests and is found in the forest communities lenga, Roble - rauli - Coihue, Coihue de Magallanes Araucaria and Alerce.

System

The lenga southern beech belongs to the subgenus Nothofagus, which includes only five species occurring in South America.

Evidence

• The lenga southern beech in the Enciclopedia de la Flora Chilena (Spanish )
• Sebastián Teillier: Curso de Botánica Sistematica, online