Beech Tree Information

The beech has smooth, gray bark.

The American beech is in the Fagaceae family, a group that also includes the oaks, chestnuts and some other kinds of beeches. The American beech tree is an easily recognized species of forest and woodlands in the eastern United States and Canada. The American beech is an important tree of its ecosystem, giving animals a place to live and producing a nut crop that is an important staple in the diet of many creatures.

Size

The beech is a slow-growing species. At its full height, the beech can be 60 to 80 feet, with a trunk diameter that in some cases is as large as 3 feet. The beech has a spreading crown that can often almost be as wide as the tree is tall.

Identification

The bark of a beech tree remains smooth throughout the life of the tree, even well into old age. This is the tree's most discernible feature, and sometimes a handicap to the tree when people decide to carve graffiti and initials into it. The bark is a grayish color and thin. Beech roots are shallow, with other beeches growing from the root systems around the tree. The 2- to 6-inch long leaves are oblong, with teeth along the edges that curve inward. Heavily veined, the leaves change to brown or yellow in fall and commonly remain on the tree through the cold of winter before dropping away in spring.

Geography

The beech tree will often exist with many others of its kind in large stands of trees, growing in moist rich soil in upland settings or in well-drained areas in lowland woodlands. The beech is native to Canadian provinces such as Ontario, New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The range extends southward from Canada through the Great Lakes and into states such as Indiana and Kentucky. Texas, Arkansas and Missouri form the western border of the tree's range. In Florida, the beech is present only in the Panhandle region.

Significance

The beechnut is one of the more significant nuts in the forest. In addition to many kinds of birds, like ruffed grouse and blue jays, an assortment of mammals eats the half-inch long nuts that ripen inside a spiny shell. Mice, squirrels, black bears, white-tailed deer and even foxes partake of the nut. Beech trees often become hollow when they get older; this makes them an ideal den for raccoons, opossums and squirrels.

Beech Bark Disease

The most serious disease of the American beech is beech bark disease, a fungal ailment that an insect called the woolly beech scale transmits to the tree as it bores into the bark. The fungus has the ability to kill the bark in a beech suffering from a heavy infestation of these insects. The fungus, identified in 1914, is immune to any treatments once it gains access to the tree. Once the fungus kills off large portions of the bark, the tree is weak enough for other diseases and pests to infiltrate the tree.

References

• Virginia Department of Forestry: American Beech
• Ohio Department of Natural Resources: American Beech
• Horticulture Week: Beech Bark Disease