Also known as deciduous beech, tanglefoot or nothofagus gunnii. It is a deciduous tree that grows in lutruwita’s highlands. Its leaves have beautiful colours when they turn in autumn.
Fagus, Central Highlands, Pentax MX, Ilford XP2 Super, Apr 2025.
What is also remarkable about these leaves are the geometric grooves that are embedded in them. They are kind of similar to crinkle cut chips, although that description doesn’t really do them justice. The fagus leaves have a central line along their length, and all groves radiate out from this central line. The leaves are no bigger than a person’s thumbnail.
Clearing mist with scattered tanglefoot, Central Highlands, Pentax MX, Ilford XP2 Super, Apr 2025.
The fagus has adapted to Tasmania’s highlands, to extreme cold. I think of them as the best friend of the ancient Pencil Pines. I have often seen fagus position itself around those old pines, almost as if to form a protective barrier around them.
Nothofagus gunnii. Pentax MX, Ilford XP2 Super, Apr 2025.
Late April is usually a good time to see the turning of the fagus, as the tiny leaves turn to orange, red, then to rust, brown and eventually fall off the tree and collect on the ground, where they are often frozen and covered by snow.
I was lucky enough to see some of it turning this year.But I felt a bit unlucky when I discovered I had black and white film loaded into my camera at the time.
-A.S. 13/6/25, Brushy Creek, nipaluna / Hobart, lutruwita / Tasmania.