Fuscospora solandri

Fuscospora solandri
File:Nsolandri2367.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Nothofagaceae
Genus:	Fuscospora
Species:	F. solandri
Binomial name
Fuscospora solandri (Hook.f.) Heenan & Smissen
Synonyms
Nothofagus solandri (Hook.f.) Oerst. Fagus solandri

Fuscospora solandri, commonly called black beech (Māori: tawhai pango), is a species of southern beech, endemic to New Zealand. Black beech occurs on both the North and the South Islands at low altitudes up to the mountains. It was known as Nothofagus solandri var. solandri prior to 2013.

Black beech is a medium-sized evergreen tree growing to 27 m tall. The leaves are oppositely arranged, ovoid, 10 mm long and 5 mm broad, with smooth margins.

Fuscospora solandri is known as black beech because it is prone to a sooty mold which covers the trunk and branches. This, in turn, is the result of a scale insect which sucks sap from the tree, and excretes honeydew, a sweet liquid, in small droplets (less than 1 mm diameter) on the end of stalks. This feeds the sooty mold, and also forms a valuable high-energy food source for various birds and insects including the kākā. The infestation is common and does not appear to harm the tree.

Black beech and mountain beech have both been planted in Great Britain, and mountain beech has shown better cold tolerance than black beech in locations such as Scotland.

Hybrids

• Black beech is known to hybridise freely with mountain beech (Fuscospora cliffortioides) where the two species co-exist,and in some places the hybrids may form complex introgressive hybrid swarms.
• Black beech hybridises with hard beech (Fuscospora truncata) to form the hybrid species Fuscospora ×apiculata.
• Black beech hybridises with red beech (Fuscospora fusca) to form the hybrid species Fuscospora ×dubia.

External links

• University of Waikato: Nothofagus