Fagus - Beech

Beech (Fagus) is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe and North America.

The leaves of beech trees are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5–15 cm long and 4–10 cm broad. The flowers are small single-sex (monoecious), the female flowers borne in pairs, the male flowers wind-pollinated catkins, produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear. The bark is smooth and light gray. The fruit is a small, sharply three–angled nut 10–15 mm long, borne singly or in pairs in soft-spined husks 1.5–2.5 cm long, known as cupules. The nuts are edible, though bitter with a high tannin content, and are called beechmast.

Beech grows on a wide range of soil types, acid or basic, provided they are not waterlogged. The tree canopy casts dense shade, and carpets the ground with dense leaf litter, and the ground flora beneath may be sparse.


USES
The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental tree is the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica), widely cultivated in North America as well as its native Europe.

The European species, Fagus sylvatica, yields a utility timber that is tough but dimensionally unstable. It is widely used for furniture framing and carcass construction, flooring and engineering purposes, in plywood and in household items like plates, but rarely as a decorative timber.

Beech wood is an excellent firewood, easily split and burning for many hours with bright but calm flames. Chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of Budweiser beer as a fining agent. Beech logs are burned to dry the malts used in some German smoked beers, to give the beers their typical flavor. Beech is also used to smoke some cheeses.

Beech wood is excellent for furnitures as well. Some drums are made from Beech, which has a tone generally considered to be between Maple and Birch, the two most popular drum woods.

Also, beech pulp is used as the basis for manufacturing a textile fibre known as Modal.

The fruit of the beech, also called "Beechnuts", are found in the small burrs that drop from tree in Autumn. They are small and triangular, are edible, have a sweet taste and are highly nutritious.


Species
Fagus crenata, known as the Japanese beech, Siebold's beech, or buna, is a deciduous tree of the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Japan where it is widespread and often one of the dominant trees of Japan's deciduous forests. It reaches 35 metres in height. The crown is rounded and the bark is smooth and grey. The simple leaves are arranged alternately along the branch. They are broadest towards the base and have 7 to 11 pairs of veins. The nut has a short thick stalk, 15 mm long. There are flattened green whiskers at the base of the husk of the nut. The flowers are wind-pollinated. The young leaves and seeds are edible.

Fagus grandifolia - The American Beech is a species of beech native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20-35 m tall, with smooth, silvery-gray bark. The leaves are dark green, simple and sparsely-toothed with small teeth, 6-12 cm long (rarely 15 cm), with a short petiole. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender (15-20 mm by 2-3 mm) with two rows of overlapping scales on the buds. 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.

Fagus hayatae is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. It is endemic to Taiwan.

Fagus longipetiolata is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. It is found in China and Vietnam.

Fagus mexicana - The Mexican Beech or Haya (Fagus mexicana) is a species of beech endemic to northeastern Mexico, where it occurs from southwest Tamaulipas south to Hidalgo and Puebla; it is restricted to high altitude cloud forests in mountains. It is a deciduous tree, reaching heights of 25-40 m tall and up to 1 m trunk diameter. The leaves are alternate, simple, with a slightly toothed margin, usually smaller than those of American Beech, 5-8 cm long and 3-5 cm broad. The buds are long and slender, 15-25 mm long and 2-3 mm thick. The flowers are small catkins which appear shortly after the leaves in spring. The seeds are small triangular nuts 15-20 mm long and 7-10 mm wide at the base; there are two nuts in each cupule, maturing in the autumn 6-7 months after pollination.

Fagus orientalis - The Oriental Beech is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. The natural range extends from northwest Turkey east to the Caucasus and Alborz Mountains. It is restricted to mountain forests, at 500-2,100 m altitude. The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a slightly crenate margin, 7-15 cm long and 5-9 cm broad, with 7-13 veins on each side of the leaf (6-7 veins in F. sylvatica). The buds are long and slender, 15-30 mm long and 2-3 mm thick, but thicker (to 4-5 mm) where the buds include flower buds.

The flowers are small catkins which appear shortly after the leaves in spring. The seeds are small triangular nuts 15-20 mm long and 7-10 mm wide at the base; there are two nuts in each cupule, maturing in the autumn 5-6 months after pollination; the cupule differs from that of European Beech in having flattened, slightly leaf-like appendages at the base (slender, soft spines in European Beech).

Fagus sylvatica - The European Beech or Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. It is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to 49 m tall [2] and 3m trunk diameter, though more typically 25-35 m tall and up to 1.5 m trunk diameter. It has a typical lifespan of 150 to 200 years, though sometimes up to 300 years. The appearance varies according to its habitat; in forest conditions, it tends to have a long, slender light-gray trunk with a narrow crown and erect branches, in isolation with good side light the trunk is short with a large and widely spreading crown with very long branches.
The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a slightly crenate margin, 5-10 cm long and 3-7 cm broad, with 6-7 veins on each side of the leaf (7-10 veins in Fagus orientalis). When crenate, there is one point at each vein tip, never any points between the veins. The buds are long and slender, 15-30 mm long and 2-3 mm thick, but thicker (to 4-5 mm) where the buds include flower buds.
The European Beech starts to flower when it is between 30-80 years old. The flowers are small catkins which appear shortly after the leaves in spring. The seeds, called beechnuts, are small triangular nuts 15-20 mm long and 7-10 mm wide at the base; there are two nuts in each cupule, maturing in the autumn 5-6 months after pollination. Flower and seed production is particularly abundant in years following a hot, sunny and dry summer, though rarely for two years in a row. The nuts are an important food for birds, rodents and in the past also people, although they are no longer eaten by man. Slightly toxic to man if eaten in large quantities due to the tannins they contain, the nuts were nonetheless pressed to obtain an oil in 19th century England that was used for cooking and in lamps. They were also ground to make flour, which could be eaten after the tannins were leached out by soaking.

Fagus engleriana

Fagus lucida

Fagus japonica

Mammillaria

The genus Mammillaria is one of the largest in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 171 known species and varieties recognized. Most of the mammillarias are native to Mexico, but some come from the southwest USA, the Caribbean,... more >>>

Olsynium

Olsynium is a genus of 12 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, with 11 of the species native to South America, and the twelfth to western North America. The genus was formerly often included in the related genus... more >>>

Nephrolepis

Nephrolepis is a genus of about 30 species of ferns in the family Lomariopsidaceae.


Selected species
Nephrolepis exaltata - The Sword Fern is a species of fern in the family Lomariopsidaceae, native to... more >>>

Wedelia

Wedelia is a flowering plant genus of in the subflower family (Asteraceae). They are one of the genera commonly called "creeping-oxeyes".


Some Species
Wedelia oxylepis is a species of flowering... more >>>

Laburnum - Golden Chain

Laburnum (also called Golden Chain) is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, Laburnum anagyroides (Common Laburnum) and Laburnum alpinum (Alpine Laburnum). They are native to the mountains... more >>>