The peak of autumn and just as the deciduous beech leaves are changing might seem an odd time to be bringing up spring growth on the myrtle beech trees but I thought it would be interesting to share a few photos from last spring.

The myrtle beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) is a direct relative of the deciduous beech (Nothofagus gunnii) and while the myrtle isn’t deciduous, it’s new growth in spring also puts on a lesser celebrated but (in my opinion) equally stunning display of orange and red.

The leaves eventually shift to their normal dark green colour but visiting Tasmania’s great rainforest areas in spring is certainly not without its splashes of colour!

The shots above were taken on the Twisted Sister track in the south west, but myrtle rainforest is relatively common around Tasmania (eg Cradle Mountain, Tarkine, North East highlands) so there are plenty of spots you can look forward to enjoying this phenomenon later in the year.