“false beech” although there is some suggestion that this is due to a misspelling of the intent NOTOfagus, meaning “Southern beech.” There is a suggestion that the genus was changed due to a spelling error. There are about 40 species of Nothofagus, with only three occurring in Australia: N cunninghamii, gunnii, and moorei. Nothofagus gunnii is a deciduous beach endemic to Tasmania that grows in low-fire, alpine regions. Nothofagus moorei, or Antarctic beech, is another cool temperate rainforest evergreen found in patches in New South Wales and Southern Queensland. Nothofagus cunninghamii is named for the 19th century botanist and ‘explorer’, Allan Cunningham, who is best known for his plant collection career throughout Australia. In 2013, N. cunninghamii was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia cunninghamii. This is due to the other species in the family Nothofagaceae with significant differences in morphology and genetics throughout South America, New Zealand, Australia, and other relict Gondwanan rainforests. There has been controversy over the change in name from Nothofagus to Lophozonia with the argument that the phylogenetic history suits retaining the genus Nothofagus. Ecology & Fire Occasionally one may see round, orange-like fruiting bodies of a fungus protruding from the trunk; this is Cyttaria gunnii. Cyttaria are obligate biotrophic associates of myrtle beech and have co-evolved with Nothofagus. It grows in temperate rainforest with other rainforest species including southern sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum), leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida), horizontal(Anodopetalum biglandulosum) and celery-top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius). They also form important habitat for birds who use the tree for nesting and safety. N. cunninghamii grow throughout a variety of ecosystems but establish best in partial sun in wet sclerophyll understory. In mixed forests, the tree species will be made up of primarily N. cunninghamii and sassafras with a tall eucalyptus overstory. Once these remaining eucalypts die, the myrtle beech will become the dominant species forming a pure rainforest. This process takes several hundred years. This ecosystem is retained by rare fires in wet conditions that prevent eucalypt seeds from germinating. In the event of a big fire, the pure rainforest will be replaced by eucalypts and the process of reestablishing a rainforest will restart. Myrtle beech rarely survives intense fire, and must re-establish from neighbouring areas. They can, however, survive light fires by regenerating from seed or vegetatively from basal epicormic shoots. Both N. cunninghamii and the closely related N. moorei are excellent hosts for epiphytes. Evolution Nothofagus is an