Flora of New Zealand Series

Fagus cliffortioides Hook. f. Ic. Pl. 1844, t. 673.

Mountain beech.

Type locality: Dusky Sound. Type K, "Dusky Bay, Menzies".

Tree up to 15 m. tall; trunk up to 1 m. diam.; reduced to shrub in subalpine belt. Lvs coriac., 10-15 × 7-10 mm., on petioles 1-2 mm. long; lamina ovate to ovate-oblong, acute to subacute, obliquely rounded at base, glab. above, clad in dense greyish white to subfulvous tomentum below; nervation us. obscure. Domatia absent. Staminate infls 1-3 per branchlet, 1-2-fld; peduncles very short, sparsely pubescent. Per. broadly campanulate, 2 × 2 mm., with 4-5 obtuse lobes. Stamens 8-14; anthers 2-3 mm. long, dark red. Pistillate infls 1-(2) per branchlet, sessile, viscous, almost glab. to pubescent, 2 mm. long. Lateral fls trimerous, terminal dimerous; stigmas clavate. Cupule 3-partite, up to 7 mm. long. Nuts glab. to puberulous, 6-7 mm. long; wings with acute tips.

DIST: N., S. Montane and subalpine forests and scrub from lat. 38° southwards, except Mount Egmont and Tararua Range; descends to sealevel in southern part of range.

HYBRIDISM

This has been rather fully discussed and illustrated by Cockayne in Bull. N.Z. For. Serv. 4 (1), 1926 and by Cockayne and Atkinson in Genetica 8, 1926, 1-43. Cockayne (loc. cit. 22) gives strong evidence in support of his statement that "Although, so far, no artificial hybrids between any of the beeches have been made there can be no doubt as to their occurrence in nature in great numbers and of many forms. Wherever either N. cliffortioides or N. solandri occurs along with N. fusca or N. truncata there are more or less--frequently many-adult trees whose leaves show a mixture of the leaf characters of the parents". One tree has been noted (Allan in Genetica 11, 1929, 501, fig. 9) mainly with entire apiculate lvs, but bearing a large branch from near the base of the trunk with lvs of pure N. fusca form. This was growing in a mixed forest of N. fusca and N. solandri. Cockayne and Allan (Ann. Bot., Lond. 48, 1934, 19) concluded that N. apiculata formed a part of the hybrid group N. solandri × truncata; N. blairii a portion of the hybrid group N. cliffortioides × fusca.

Poole (N.Z. J. For. 6, 1951, 250-253) describes and illustrates a N. solandri × N. fusca artificial hybrid; he records also that open-pollinated seed from two trees with lvs of N. blairii type produced seedlings approaching N. fusca and N. cliffortioides and other members of the hybrid swarm, but none matching the parent plants.

Typical N. cliffortioides differs distinctly from typical N. solandri but there are many intermediates of uncertain status; population studies are being made by the Forest Service.

FL. 11-1. FT. 2-4.

Wood us. Paler than that of N. solandri. Bark rather smooth, dark. Juvenile plant with ovate to suborbicular lvs 4-7 × 4-5 mm.

TAXONOMY

Cheeseman, Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 375, admits:

(a) N. apiculata (Col.) Ckn. in T.N.Z.I. 43, 1911, 172. Fagus apiculata Col. in T.N.Z.I. 16, 1884, 335. The type material (W) came from dense forests between Matamau and Dannevirke. The type is characterized by: lvs 15-25 × 10-15 mm., thin, glab., elliptic, subcuneate at base, entire, strongly apiculate. Subsequently a number of similar forms have been referred to the sp. Cheeseman, loc. cit., cites specimens from the type locality and from Mount Fyffe in Seaward Kaikoura Range.

(b) N. apiculata var. dubia (Kirk) Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 371. Fagus fusca var. dubia Kirk For. Fl. 1889, 182, t. 91 except fig. 4. F. apiculata var. dubia (Kirk) Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 1906, 642. Kirk says: "Veins are not prominent, the texture is rather thicker, and the leaf is rather narrower, with serratures restricted to the upper portion; at first sight it makes a closer aproach to F. solandri than to F. fusca." His diagnosis is: "Leaves almost coriaceous, oblong, cuneate at base; teeth very shallow, obtuse . . . Fruit rather narrow". No localities are given. Lvs 15-25 × 7-13 mm., obovate-oblong, cuneate. Cheeseman, loc. cit., cites specimens from near Wellington.

Fagus fusca var. obsoleta Kirk For. Fl. 1889, 181, t. 91, fig. 4, is described as: "leaves submembranous or coriaceous; margins slightly indented or sinuate." Locality not given. Lvs figured are 10-25 × 9-13 mm., apiculate, sinuate. Cheesman, loc. cit., places it under N. apiculata var. dubia.

(c) N. blairii (Kirk) Ckn. in T.N.Z.I. 43, 1911, 172. Fagus blairii Kirk in T.N.Z.I. 17, 1885, 297, t. 16. This was based on specimens from R. Dart at head of Lake Wakatipu and from the Little Grey River, Nelson. Lvs coriac., entire, shortly apiculate, rounded at base, clad below in fulvous tomentum; lamina 17-20 × 8-15 mm. Cheeseman, loc. cit., gives it from near sources of Wanganui River, lower part of Waimarino Plateau, and several localities throughout South Id.

In K are specimens labelled F. punctata Col. and F. rotundifolia Col. The former, from the banks of R. Makororo, Hawkes Bay, is N. fusca with lvs minutely pitted by a fungus. The latter is N. truncata with lvs c. 25 × 20-22 mm. Both have pistillate infls.

HETEROBLASTY AND POLYMORPHY

All the spp. show slight heteroblastic development, more pronounced in N. cliffortioides and N. solandri, as indicated in the text. Lf-size and -texture are much influenced by exposure to wind and insolation. For further details see Cockayne in Bull. N.Z. For. Serv. 4 (1), 1926, and Cockayne and Turner Trees of N.Z. 1947, 148-150. The cots are notched except in N. menziesii.