Antartic Beech

One of our remaining links with the ancient ancestors of Gondwana is the presence of these majestic Antarctic beech (Nothofagus moorei). During a wetter, cooler time in Australia, about 50 million years ago, forests of these trees were widespread across the continent and provided a habitat for animals, many of which have long since disappeared from our landscape.

About 38 to 45 million years ago, as Australia drifted north from Antarctica, our climate cooled and dried, dramatically forcing rain forests to retreat to isolated areas of the coast. The Tweed Caldera was one area where Antarctic beech took refuge.

The ring of massive, gnarled trunks you see today has grown from a single tree. Over many decades, this tree has undergone a process of coppicing - the dying and regrowing of new stems. This ring of growth encircles the site where a single seed began life some 2000 years ago.