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Southern beech family
Nothofagaceae
ナンキョクブナ科
A monotypic family of about 43 species in the genus Nothofagus, distributed in South America (Chile, Argentina), Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and New Guinea. Formerly included in Fagaceae, but molecular phylogenetics revealed it as a separate lineage that diverged early, leading to its recognition as an independent family. Not native to Japan.
Key Characteristics
- ●Deciduous or evergreen trees
- ●Leaves small to medium, serrate, alternate
- ●Flowers unisexual, monoecious
- ●Nuts enclosed in a 3-valved cupule
- ●Form montane to subpolar forests in the Southern Hemisphere
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate / Crenate / Entire
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Evergreen / Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Stipules
Present
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal count
4 petals / 5 petals / 6 petals
Ovary position
Inferior
Plant sex
Monoecious
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Rosids > Fagales > Nothofagaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous (approx. 80–70 million years ago)
Representative Genera
Related Evolution Events
- ・Establishment of disjunct distributions across Southern Hemisphere continents through the breakup of Gondwana
- ・Confirmation of phylogenetic isolation as a monotypic family separate from Fagaceae (molecular phylogenetics)
Plants in Southern beech family on this site
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