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Fagus grandifolia
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Fagus grandifolia
Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is a species of tree growing to 16–35 meters (52–115 feet) tall. It is one of two beech species native to North America, the other occurring in Mexico. It flourished over most of the continent prior to the last ice age, but is now limited to the east. The tree is shade tolerant and found in forests in the final stage of succession.
The nuts are eaten by animals and humans. The leaves and inner bark can be prepared as well.
Fagus grandifolia is a large deciduous tree growing to 16–35 meters (52–115 feet) tall, with smooth, silver-gray bark. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender (15–20 mm or 5⁄8–3⁄4 in by 2–3 mm or 3⁄32–1⁄8 in) with two rows of overlapping scales on the buds. Beech buds are distinctly thin and long, resembling cigars; this characteristic makes beech trees relatively easy to identify.
The leaves are dark green, yellow below, simple and sparsely toothed with small teeth that terminate each vein, and 6–12 centimeters (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 inches) long (rarely 15 cm or 6 in), with a short petiole.
The tree is monoecious, with flowers of both sexes on the same tree. The fruit is a small, sharply angled nut, borne in pairs in a soft-spined, four-lobed husk. It has two means of reproduction: one is through the usual dispersal of seedlings, and the other is through root sprouts, which grow into new trees.
Trees in the southern half of the range are sometimes distinguished as a variety, F. grandifolia var. caroliniana, but this is not considered distinct by either the Flora of North America or the Plants of the World Online database. The Mexican beech (Fagus mexicana), native to the mountains of eastern Mexico, is closely related, and was often treated as a subspecies of American beech, but is now classified as a distinct species, following recent research which has shown it differs in genetics, lacking some ancient introgression with Eurasian Fagus species which is present in F. grandifolia,
F. grandifolia is believed to have spanned the width of the North American continent all the way to the Pacific coast before the last ice age.
The genus name Fagus is Latin for "beech", and the specific epithet grandifolia comes from grandis "large" and folium "leaf", in reference to the American beech's larger leaves when compared to the European beech.
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Fagus grandifolia
Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is a species of tree growing to 16–35 meters (52–115 feet) tall. It is one of two beech species native to North America, the other occurring in Mexico. It flourished over most of the continent prior to the last ice age, but is now limited to the east. The tree is shade tolerant and found in forests in the final stage of succession.
The nuts are eaten by animals and humans. The leaves and inner bark can be prepared as well.
Fagus grandifolia is a large deciduous tree growing to 16–35 meters (52–115 feet) tall, with smooth, silver-gray bark. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender (15–20 mm or 5⁄8–3⁄4 in by 2–3 mm or 3⁄32–1⁄8 in) with two rows of overlapping scales on the buds. Beech buds are distinctly thin and long, resembling cigars; this characteristic makes beech trees relatively easy to identify.
The leaves are dark green, yellow below, simple and sparsely toothed with small teeth that terminate each vein, and 6–12 centimeters (2+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 inches) long (rarely 15 cm or 6 in), with a short petiole.
The tree is monoecious, with flowers of both sexes on the same tree. The fruit is a small, sharply angled nut, borne in pairs in a soft-spined, four-lobed husk. It has two means of reproduction: one is through the usual dispersal of seedlings, and the other is through root sprouts, which grow into new trees.
Trees in the southern half of the range are sometimes distinguished as a variety, F. grandifolia var. caroliniana, but this is not considered distinct by either the Flora of North America or the Plants of the World Online database. The Mexican beech (Fagus mexicana), native to the mountains of eastern Mexico, is closely related, and was often treated as a subspecies of American beech, but is now classified as a distinct species, following recent research which has shown it differs in genetics, lacking some ancient introgression with Eurasian Fagus species which is present in F. grandifolia,
F. grandifolia is believed to have spanned the width of the North American continent all the way to the Pacific coast before the last ice age.
The genus name Fagus is Latin for "beech", and the specific epithet grandifolia comes from grandis "large" and folium "leaf", in reference to the American beech's larger leaves when compared to the European beech.
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