Antarctic Beech

The Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus antarctica), also commonly called the Southern beech or Ñire, is a deciduous tree or shrub native to southern Chile and Argentina from about 36°S latitude south to Tierra del Fuego. It grows mainly in the diminishing temperate rainforests.

These trees typically grow 10–25 m tall and have slender trunks with scaly, attractive bark. The leaves are simple and alternate, growing 2–4.5 cm long, and often viscid, with a sweetly scented wax. The leaf color is medium green, becoming yellow to orange in the fall. They are broadly ovate to triangular, crinkly, rounded at the tips, irregularly and minutely toothed. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green catkins. The fruit is a 6 mm, very fragrant 4-valved capsule containing three small nuts.

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