Many people are surprised to see the Myrtle Beech trees Nothofagus cunninghamii in the Forest Gallery shedding yellow leaves this autumn. These trees are not considered fully deciduous however they do shed older leaves in autumn which create a yellow leaf carpet more typical of northern hemisphere temperate forests. A close relative Nothofagus gunii found only in Tasmania is the only native tree in Australia considered to be fully winter deciduous. Australian trees in the genus Nothofagus are all relics of earlier wetter times. These trees were once widespread across the supercontinent Gondwana and can still be found growing in parts of Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America despite being separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean. Fossil leaves excavated from Antarctica along with preserved examples of foliage from South American, New Zealand and Tasmanian Nothofagus are displayed in Forest Gallery.
Comments
Add comment