Home Resources Gardener News reprints: The Almost Forgotten American Beech
This article by Hubert Ling (NPSNJ horticulture) was published in Gardener's News without the photos. He is a regular contributing writer to Gardener's News. Photos by H & M Ling.
The Almost Forgotten American Beech
Although American Beech, Fagus grandifolia, is available commercially it definitely is not the first tree you think of when planning to landscape your yard. The tree is moderately slow growing, is a bit too tall at 70-90’ for street plantings, spreads out, and makes dense shade. It has a shallow root system which commonly forms suckers and is very sensitive to root zone disturbances and drought; in addition, it is not pollution or salt resistant. Beech seedlings are adapted to low light conditions; thus beech can continue to reproduce, even in dense shade, and continue to provide candidates to replace adult trees which are sick or damaged. This leads to a stable North Eastern plant community which is called the beech-maple climax forest.
American Beech is an attractive graceful tree and has a lovely smooth pale gray bark. This beautiful bark may be a disadvantage since it is an almost irresistible temptation to graffiti artists. Any cuts made in the thin bark will persist for the life of the tree. In the fall the dark green beech leaves turn a lovely bronze and some of the leaves may persist through the winter. If protected and if you have the room, a beech tree will add its stately presence to your estate.
In Colonial America extensive beech forests were present on the rich bottom land soils of Middle America. Such areas were deliberately sought out by settlers and when cleared gave rise to prosperous farms; thus most of our beech was lost. Beech nuts were one of the favorite foods of the passenger pigeon and the loss of extensive beech forests was a main contributing factor to the extinction of this once common and beautiful bird. Beech trees range from Canada to Florida and west to Texas and Wisconsin. In NJ beech are found in almost every county but less commonly in the Pine Barrens.
Beech wood is hard, light colored, and fine grained; it bends easily when steamed. Once seasoned it is very stable and was the preferred wood for the body of wooden smoothing planes. Beech was also commonly used for flooring, furniture, toys, and paper. It also makes a high quality, long burning firewood.
The flowers of beech trees are small and inconspicuous; male and female flowers are borne separately but each tree has both genders. As is common in maple and oak, beech flowers are wind pollenated. The fruits are about 1/2” in diameter and roughly spherical with short, soft, curly spines covering the surface. These fruits split open at maturity to release 2 triangular nuts. These nuts are thin-shelled and avidly sought for by birds, rodents, opossums, foxes, deer, bears, and people. The nuts, as mentioned in last month’s article, are rich in oil which is used like olive oil in cooking and previously was used as lamp oil. Raw beech nuts are considered to be mildly toxic but this does not seem to impede animals or people who roast them to remove the toxins. The leaves are sometimes browsed by deer but they are not a staple food. Beech is listed as the larval food for the early hairstreak butterfly.
Beech roots support a curious obligate parasitic, the beechdrop. This plant is about 8-18” tall and has neither real leaves nor chlorophyll. It only produces stiff stalks with small curved tan or purple flowers. Beechdrops don’t seem to harm the trees much and are only found under about 10% of beech trees.
Beech trees are generally propagated from the nuts. Plant them as soon as they are released since dried nuts go dormant. Make sure that the seeds you use actually have a kernel inside them; many trees produce nuts with no contents! The seeds need 90 days of stratification but germination is generally high. Be sure to protect your nuts from critters or you may end up with nothing but upturned pots.
Planting an American beech tree in the appropriate setting will leave a valuable legacy; the wild critters and your descendants will be reminded of your foresight and thoughtfulness for hundreds of years.