Hi, I am a landscape and nature photographer based in Melbourne, Australia and enjoy using my camera to explore our remaining wild places and better connect with nature.
Nothofagus cunninghamii Myrtle Beech
Densely foliaged dark-green tree, 8-35 (+) m. In wet gullies and on sheltered slopes in S. Vic high rainfall areas (exceeding 1350mm p.a.) in closed forests and tall open-forests, often montane (below 1500m), common in Tas. LEAVES in fan-like sprays, shiny dark-green above, paler green beneath, young growth bronzy-pink, 1-2 cm x 6-15 mm, margins shallow-toothed. FLOWERS (Nov-Jan) small, inconspicuous, unisexual. FRUIT nut-like 3-4mm.1
On a recent bushwalk I came across a beautiful grove of Myrtle Beech. In Victoria, Myrtle Beech are limited to areas with high rainfall and protected from fire, mostly in the moist valleys found in the Central Highlands, Strzelecki Ranges, Otway Ranges, and Wilsons Promontory.
Typically, the shift from eucalypt to Myrtle is observed as you move downhill into a wet creek valley. There is often a clear transition as the vegetation changes from drier sclerophyll forest where eucalypts dominate into the wetter temperate rainforest where Blackwood, Sassafras and Myrtle Beech dominate, as the eucalypts struggle to compete as the moisture levels increase, often the ground becomes steeper and less stable, and fire is rare.
But sometimes2, a larger patch of forest becomes dominated by Myrtle Beech beyond the steep confines of a protected gully. As I looked around this expanse of Myrtle Beech, I could see that the ground was particularly damp as water accumulated below a major saddle before forming a stream to continue its journey downhill. Whatever the reasons, these patches of forest feel very different to the surrounding eucalypt forest.
The eucalypt dominated sclerophyll forests have an open canopy that allows for a thick understory of dense scrub from which the colourful bark of the eucalypt trunks emerge. The tight canopy of a Myrtle Beech forest, on the other hand, means the shade is intense, it feels darker and colder, and often the understory is more open as the gloom favours various mosses and ferns.
As I sat in this patch enjoying the scene (image above), I realised I couldn’t recall any decent intimate portraits I had made of Myrtle Beech trees. Readers of this newsletter, and followers on Instagram know that I love trees and love taking a particular type of tree portrait – a close up of their trunk, emerging from the surrounding forest. The images I have of Myrtles tend to be taken further back, of the whole tree canopy in the forest, preferably in fog and soft light.
As I continued my walk, I contemplated why this was so. If I am honest, Myrtles are a difficult subject. While I love their vibe, their bark is dark and non-descript (although sometimes covered in moss), they live in the depths of dark, shaded forests, and they are often crowded in by their neighbours. Although I have stood next to old, large Myrtle Beech, I have struggled to find a way of capturing their presence in the forest.
Given the amount of time I spend with my camera in temperate rainforest surrounded by Myrtle Beech, I felt the need to rectify the situation and committed to head out on a mission to get some Myrtle Beech close up portraits.
The beech or Fagaceae family includes nine genera including Nothofagus, which means “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 beech 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.3
I always like to head out with a destination in mind, even if plans often change in response to the conditions or my curiosity. So I was up early and heading to a large patch of forest deep in the Central Highlands that I knew was dominated by Myrtle.
Before I reached that location, I had a couple of other locations in mind (it really does help to know an area well). The first was where a creek crosses the road with the mountain facing east. I had seen a few old Myrtle there and, with the prospect of low cloud, I was hoping that the early light would shine down into the depths of the creek providing some soft directional light.
The creek is only small – in many places a large step is enough to get across – but the terrain is steep, with little ground cover apart from some low ferns and the occasional tree fern over rich, wet soil. The slippery conditions meant it was quite a scramble through the ferns until I found a couple of lovely trees.
I like that the image above shows the tree in thick rainforest. I also found another, even bigger tree, but couldn’t find a composition. Instead, I focussed on the branches covered in mosses and epiphytic growth.
Further along the road, there was a section with a number of beautiful specimens. While photographing towards the sun can be challenging – I always exposure bracket to make sure I have detail in the highlights and shadows – it also provides for the most interesting light.
To give you a sense of the kind of country, here is a view of the road, with the Myrtles on the right and perfectly backlit in the low cloud to provide some depth. I think you can understand why I love this landscape.
Overall, I was pleased with the session. I identified a good location that would benefit from the conditions and got some nice intimate portraits of Myrtle Beech. I had driven past all these trees previously and knew they were there. It was only when I decided to focus on one subject and actively seek images did I “really” see them.
While there is a place for just going out and capturing what we see, there is a risk that we will not see some potential subjects, that our own view of the world, biases and assumptions will have us focus on some things and not others. Actively identifying these gaps and focussing on things we might not normally focus on can lead to all kinds of discoveries.
I will be sure to lookout for more opportunities for Myrtle Beech portraits. What subjects have you walked past only to discover later?
From Leon Costermans, 1981, Native Trees and Shrubs of South-Eastern Australia, Rigby Publishers
More commonly in Tasmania where there are much more extensive tracts of Myrtle Beech.
Haha! I got scared reading the title of this one. Several years ago I almost lost my right hand on a family vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. But, that's a story for another time!
I really enjoyed your deep dive into the composition of these forests and your photos of the trees let them stand out as clear subjects in their surroundings. Great work!
Those lovely trees could be the models for Tolkein's Ents.