Question for folks who know about the Southern hemisphere, what are some taxa that are deciduous (cold/drought)?
Any notable ones around you that you like?
I have been trying to find/create a list of such species, but struggling to get one together. Being from the Northern hemisphere I am generally uninformed of southern taxa.
I recently started a project to track the dormant stages of plants and aid in their identification. I am trying to be a resource for as many species of plants as possible but it is currently skewed towards winter deciduous northern hemisphere plants and I would like to change that.
Nothofagus gunnii is the only one we have here in Tasmania.
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If I think of autumn colour and deciduous in Cape Town - then I think of oaks and vineyards. Colonial imports. And the ginkgos planted at Kirstenbosch.
Here it is aestivation for nature. So the bulbs which emerge now as autumn rolls in promising rain. Now the flowers and leaves give us an effect they call spring up North. Quite hard for people who want an ‘English’ garden. With a lush green lawn and billows of flowers in our summer dry, and dormant, mediterranean climate!
And staying with exotic trees. The fruit orchards - apple, peach etc.
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thanks! I’ve added it, this and this observation had the type of bud and leaf scar detail I was looking for.
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The pursuit of autumn color in a climate unsuitable for it is a pitiful colonial exercise.
That being said, I found that there are some Ficus species found in South Africa that have a deciduous period but I haven’t found good pictures on iNat, so if you come across in your identifying please let me know.
I have noticed that in places with longer and harder winters, more people seem to be knowledgeable in the identification of dormant branches. So many lower latitude places that have plants that are seasonally deciduous even for a short period do not have observations in their dormant state. Even within the US, in Northern Florida there is a great number of deciduous trees but since the winters are mild enough most people make observations of other things instead or resources for identifying are not available.
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Several species of this genus are found in the southern cone of South America as far south as Tierra del Fuego. Many of the iNat observations are in fall color.
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Yes, it was one of the genera I knew about and went through the South American ones already. It is an amazing group of trees.
Although there are many observations in fall color, it’s not what I am trying to make a record of, instead a closeup of their branches without any leaves and focused on various other diagnostic features.
Here being some examples
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The Australian Red Cedar https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/155812-Toona-ciliata
is apparently deciduous in the dry season. But it is also found in some parts of the northern hemisphere (areas in Asia) so perhaps not what you are looking for?
Some Brachychitons (Kurrajongs) https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/122303-Brachychiton drop their leaves in spring/summer, then regrow them after flowering.
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