Nothofagus dombeyi
| Nothofagus dombeyi
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| Nothofagus dombeyi Mirb. (Oerst.) | ||||||||||||||
Nothofagus dombeyi (Coihue) is a tree species that inhabits the Andes of the Argentine Patagonia and central Chile, between 700 and 1,200 m above mean sea level. It forms dense forests, like those found in the Los Alerces and Nahuel Huapi national parks. It thrives in low hills with gentle slopes, being very demanding of water and soil; the largest forests are found on the slopes looking south, and the healthier specimens tend to grow on the banks of rivers and lakes. It sometimes forms mixed forests with Araucaria araucana (monkey-puzzle) trees, for example in the Villarrica National Park in Chile.
The coihue usually has elegant branches, and can become a large tree, up to 45 m high and 1.9 m in diameter. One tree, felled by a storm in 1954, reportedly measured 2.55 m in diameter at the height of a man's chest and a total volume, including the branches, of 87 m³.
The leaves are evergreen, small (25-40 mm long and 10-16 mm wide), thick, coriaceous and lustrous, dark green, with toothed borders and an acute apex. The tree is hermaphroditic; male and female flowers are usually grouped in threes. The fruit is a triangular nut that measures about 4-7 mm.
Coihue timber is considered excellent. In Argentina its exploitation is limited by the presence of the best forests within national parks. The wood is bright grayish white; the heartwood is a pale pink-white, which darkens after cut. Its texture is very fine and makes it easy to work with.
The name of the tree is often spelled coigüe (reflecting the common pronunciation with an epenthetic g). Other related trees named coihue are the Coihue de Magallanes (Nothofagus betuloides), and the Coihue de Chiloé (Nothofagus nitida).
References
- Template:IUCN2006
- Libro del Árbol: Especies Forestales Indígenas de la Argentina de Aplicación Industrial (edited by Celulosa Argentina S. A., Buenos Aires, October 1975)
- Nothofagus, les hêtres du bout du monde... (in French)
- Nothofagus dombeyi in Chilebosque (in Spanish)
