Seedling and shoot morphology of the New Zealand species ofNothofagus(Fagaceae)

Abstract

The morphology of the seedlings, young plants, and shoots of adult trees are described for Nothofagus menziesii, N. solandri, N. fusca, and N. truncata. The seedlings are of the Macaranga type. The leaves of the first plumular node are opposite with interpetiolar stipules. The primary axis is orthotropic with spiral phyllotaxis whereas the lateral branches are predominantly plagiotropic with distichous leaves. Terminal buds of the primary axis and of the lateral branches normally abort, growth being continued by pseudo-terminal buds. All four species conform to Troll's Model of tree architecture. Several morphological characters separate the seedling of N. menziesii from the other three species. The significance of shoot morphology to the taxonomy of the genus cannot be assessed until similar studies are made in other regions.