Ñirre in autumn, Parque Nacional los Glaciares, Argentina

Autumn is a rewarding time of year for a visit to Parque Nacional los Glaciares in southern Argentina. It is a time when the peak of the tourist season has passed, yet at the same time winter has not yet fully set in and so most of the area remains open to visitors. It is also the time of year when the lowland and subalpine forests of this region put on their best colour displays.

The forest here is dominated by lenga (Nothofagus pumilio) and, at higher elevations, Ñirre (N. antarctica). These species have close relatives in New Zealand and Tasmania, clearly indicating that in times gone by these three quite far flung land masses were once joined as part of a single continent. Unlike New Zealand beech forests, however, the forests of southern Argentina are deciduous and the canopy takes on intense shades of yellow, orange and red during March and early April as the trees shed their leaves for the oncoming winter.

The stunted ñirre in this photograph were situated near the treeline below Laguna de los Tres, a few hours’ walk from the tiny village of El Chaltén and not far from the famous granite spires of the Fitzroy Massif.