Nothofagus gunnii | Tasmanian Autumn
Tasmania is not the first place you think of when you think of the reds, golds and yellows of Autumn leaves spattering the landscape. North American forests are probably the ones that first come to mind. Maples, Aspens, Birch, Beech, Oaks and Ash, all producing vast forests of varying hues of colour. Tasmania isn’t like that. We may not have vast swathes of autumn coloured forests, however the one plant we do have is one worth seeking out.
That’s right. One. With close to two thousand different species of plants, there is only one deciduous tree on this little island. And not only that, it is endemic to this little island, that it, only found here, nowhere else.
Nothofagus gunnii is known by a few different common names. Deciduous Beech, Fagus and Tanglefoot. Probably more that I don’t know about. I’m not that great with common names. I find them frustrating as there are so many common names for one plant, and on top of that, some common names cover a handful of totally different species. But that’s a conversation for another day.
Another Nothofagus you may be familiar with is Nothofagus cunninghamii. This one grows as an understory in wet forests, dominates rainforests and can be found from low altitudes right up high. Known as the Myrtle Beech, these trees can tower over the moss covered floor below and live for hundred of years.
These are the only two Nothofagus species found in Tasmania. There are more throughout Australia and other parts of the world and they are an interesting genus to read up on. Very ‘Gondwana’. Technically the name of Nothofagus gunnii has changed and it has been moved to the Genus Fuscospora. However this has been a controversial change, and both names are accepted.
What
Nothofagus gunnii is a small deciduous tree that can grow up to about 2.5 metres tall, sometimes taller in more protected areas. Fairly short for a tree, although if you grew on cold, wet and windy mountains then you would probably be short too. It takes on a tangled and twisted form, more akin to a small thick shrub than one would usually think of when thinking of a tree. In a more protected spot it can be more tree like, but still a short one. When growing together in a thicket they can be impenetrable, which is where it gets it’s common name ‘Tanglefoot’.
They hate fire. If they had legs they would run. Like anything would really. Usually when you think of Australian vegetation, you think of fire as being a good thing. In a lot of cases it is, although not all. This is one of those cases. Like a lot of plants which grow in montane vegetation they are extremely susceptible to fire. There is no regeneration, no throwing out some new shoots here or there or seeds bursting to life. The result is simply death. Luckily, cold and wet habitats don’t burn so readily… Well, they didn’t until we screwed around and put our climate into a fast forward of change…
The leaves have short stalks and are arranged alternately, in kind of a flat plane along the branches. As they grow they unfold like a fan into an almost roundish shape. The edges of the leaves are toothed and there are prominent veins with extend to the margin. They are a very distinctive leaf, similar in appearance to those of their close relative Nothofagus cunninghamii, but also totally different. Comparing the two leaves next to each you will see what I mean by that. Check out the photo below. N. cunninghamii is on the left and N. gunnii on the right
N. gunnii is monoecious. In English, that means that is has seperate male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. The flower appear in summer and are pretty small and usually overlooked. For this plant it is all about the leaves!
Where and Why
Nothofagus gunnii is found mainly in the western, southern and central highlands of Tasmania. Its ideal habitat is at high elevations from about 800m upwards in the mountains. Generally found growing around the lakes and on rocky hills and scattered amongst the boulders. Montane areas are known for their unique blend of flora. It’s cold, crappy soils with low nutrients, high rainfall, boggy and wet. Basically all the things you would expect plants to hate. This is where evolutionary diversity comes in and has lead to whole suite of plants ideally suited to these ‘less than ideal’ habitats.
The montane areas as described above are hot spots for paleo-endemic species such as N. gunnii. These are species which millions of years in the past were widely spread. Over time and due to the changing patterns of climate and the shifting of the continents have ended up confined to a smaller, specific area. In this case it is the mountain tops of Tasmania.
Some of the best places which match the above conditions and are ideal places to see the Fagus are:
- The Tarn Shelf at Mount Field National Park
- Hartz Mountains National Park
- Cradle Mountain National Park
There are lots of other places they can be found scattered around amongst the landscape. These three are the most accessible and best set up for visitors. Cradle Mountain and Mount Field also have a Fagus Festival each year in Autumn which attracts lots of people from all over the place.
The Tarn Shelf | Mount Field National Park
Nature doesn’t like to run by our timelines. It likes to pick and choose to a certain extent when it will decide to do what it does. Timing your visit to catch the best display of the ‘Turning of the Fagus’ can be a bit of a good luck, or keeping an eye out on social media to see when the photos start turning up. Aim for mid autumn.
Last year myself, the husband and a few mates planned a day to do the Tarn Shelf. We had to pick a weekend almost a month earlier so it was a gamble. With work, uni, kids and life, sometimes spontaneous trips to mountains can be hard to pull off. What am I saying, they are hard to pull off all of the time, because of those things. We picked a date and hoped for the best. The Fagus was on our side, and we timed it beautifully.
Another trip up next weekend is in the books. Just need to convince my dad to babysit the kids for the day first. Minor details. I haven’t actually had a chance to suss it out and see where we are in the autumn display as of yet. Either way, we will go and see what we can see. Fagus or not, it is an amazing area to explore.
The photos here are all from this trip. Stay tuned for some new ones next week!
Important points to remember
If you do head out this autumn to look at the autumn colours, don’t forget these important things!
Our natural areas are precious, and we need to ensure they are cared for and looked after to the best of our abilities.
- Take your rubbish out
- Leave the plants as you find them, don’t pick flowers or leaves.
- Leave the animals to be wild and don’t feed them or chase them with sticks
- Stay to the formed tracks so you don’t trample all the wonderful tiny plants, fungi and moss
- Most importantly, enjoy it and appreciate the wonderful forests we have at our back doors.
