Nothofagus

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Nothofagus (southern beeches; family Fagaceae) A genus of evergreen or deciduous, big or small trees, in which the male inflorescences are sessile, or few-flowered, and the styles short. They are wind-pollinated. The fruits are subtended by a valved spiny cupule. Antarctic beech is N. antarctica, which forms extensive low, impenetrable forests in southern Chile and Tierra del Fuego. There are 35 species of the southern hemisphere, occurring in the mountains of New Guinea, New Caledonia, Australasia, and temperate S. America.

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