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Story: Southern beech forest

Foliage

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Foliage

Beech species can be readily identified by their leaves. Red and hard beech are the largest – about 2 centimetres long. Red beech (Nothofagus fusca) leaves have deeply notched toothed edges, like saw teeth. Hard beech (N. truncata) leaves have blunt teeth. Silver beech (N. menziesii) leaves are small and carry double notches with each tooth. Black beech (N. solandri) leaves are untoothed and oblong in its lowland form, and triangular in the mountain beech subspecies.

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How to cite this page

Joanna Orwin, Southern beech forest – Southern beeches, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/13300/foliage (accessed 8 June 2026).

Story by Joanna Orwin, published 1 March 2009.