Lophozonia menziesii
Common names
silver beech
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Very common forest canopy tree with silvery bark and bearing rough-edged small leathery leaves arranged along the twig. Leaves almost as wide as long, 6–15 mm long, with uneven blunt teeth on margin and with small hairy pits at the junction of the veins. Flowers and fruits inconspicuous, but colour tree.
Flower colours
Green, Red/Pink
Detailed description
Tree up to 30 metres tall; trunk up to 2 metres diameter, often buttressed; branchlet-pubescence fulvous. Leaves thick, coriaceous, rigid; 6–15 × 5–15 mm, on petioles 2–3 mm long; lamina glabrous except on veins below, broad-to deltoid-ovate to suborbicular, doubly crenate, cuneate at base; venation rather obscure; fringed domatia 1–2 in basal vein-axils. Staminate inflorescences 1–4 per branchlet; peduncles 2–3 mm long, sparsely pubescent, with 1 terminal flower. Perianth 5–6 mm diameter, of 2 unequal lobes, each again 2–3-partite. Stamens 30–36; anthers 2–3 mm long, red above, greenish below, or straw coloured. Pistillate inflorescences 1–4 per branchlet, (2)–3-flowered, on short densely pubescent peduncles. Lateral flowers trimerous, terminal dimerous or aborted; stigmas ligulate. Cupule 6–7 mm. long, 4-segmented, with 4–5 rows of gland-tipped processes, subtended by 2 foliaceous bracts. Nuts puberulous, 5 mm long; lateral triquetrous, 3-winged; terminal flat, 2-winged; wings produced above, gland-tipped.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (from latitude 37° southwards, except Mount Taranaki), South Island.
Habitat
Lowland to montane forest or as shrub in subalpine scrub.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Fagus menziesii Hook. f., Nothofagus menziesii (Hook.f.) Oerst.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–January
Fruiting
January–March
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACU: Facultative Upland
Occasionally is a hydrophyte but usually occurs in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
LOPMEN
Chromosome number
2n = 26
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Otago conservation status information is sourced from the “Regional conservation status of indigenous vascular plants in Otago” Jarvie S et al. (2024) report.
Otago: 2024 | Regionally Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan HH. 1961. Flora of New Zealand, Volume I. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 1085 p.
Anonymous. 1957. Construction of key for the genus Nothofagus. Auckland Botanical Society Journal 14: 2–3.
Heenan PB, Smissen RD. 2013. Revised circumscription of Nothofagus and recognition of the segregate genera Fuscospora, Lophozonia, and Trisyngyne (Nothofagaceae). Phytotaxa 146: 1–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.146.1.1.
Attribution
Description adapted by M. Ward from Allan (1961).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: Ward, M.D. (Year at time of access): Lophozonia menziesii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/lophozonia-menziesii/ (Date website was queried)