It is curious how we develop affection for certain species in the natural world. Whether flowers, birds or butterflies, we all have our favorites. As with Daniel Boone long ago, I have a warm spot in my heart for a long-lived, slow-growing giant that enhances the character of eastern forests: the American beech.
The American beech, Fagus grandifolia, is found from Nova Scotia and southern Quebec, west to Wisconsin and eastern Texas, and south to northern Florida. The tree achieves its greatest size in the rich soils of the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, but it also flourishes in loamy or clay soils along the western slopes of the southern Appalachian Mountains, below 3,000 feet. Over several hundred years, the trees are capable of growing to huge proportions.
Beech is a key component of northern hardwood forests, mixing with sugar maple and yellow birch. The tree is quite shade-tolerant, especially when young, thriving in the understory of established forests. Most often you find the beech in rich, moist, acidic soil, on lower slopes that drain into streams or ravines. The tree requires lots of water for growth and is sensitive to soil compaction, salt and other pollution.
The smooth, thin, steel-gray bark is a distinctive feature, even on centuries-old trees. The bark of mature trees is said to resemble an elephant’s leg. The tree typically grows 60-100 feet tall with a fine, rounded crown.
American beech is monoecious, meaning individual trees produce both male and female flowers. Because both flowers appear on the same tree, it is technically capable of self-pollination. However, beech is primarily wind-pollinated, which results in a greater degree of cross-pollination to boost genetic diversity.
The pointed, dark-green leaves have coarse serrations and defined parallel veins. In the fall, they turn a brilliant golden-bronze. I love seeing beeches in late autumn, since the colorful leaves generally cling to the branches long after other trees are bare, a phenomenon known as marcescence. The fruit is a prickly husk that splits in autumn to release shiny, brown, triangular nuts, commonly called beechnuts. These delicious nuts may be harvested for culinary use but are not commercially grown.
Beech has long been valued for its density and hardness. It was popular with early settlers for firewood, valued for the amount of heat it produces and its slow-burning nature. The wood is desirable for flooring, furniture and decorative veneer, and it is used for turning and steam-bending. However, its tendency to rot and the prevalence of disease have lowered the commercial value of beech. Some landowners view it as a weed.
More than 120 caterpillars of moths and butterflies are known to feed on the tree, including the rare early hairstreak, ensuring lots of insects for baby songbirds. The beechnuts, high in protein and fat, are essential fall and winter food for black bears, squirrels and deer, plus wild turkeys, blue jays and ruffed grouse. Claw marks and broken branches may reveal where black bears have climbed to gorge on nuts. The long-lived trees often develop hollow cavities, providing den sites and shelter for animals.
Sadly, the beech faces severe threats from multiple pests and pathogens. Beech bark disease is caused by the nonnative beech scale insect and a fungus. The insect feeds on the bark, allowing the fungus to enter. This leads to canker formation, girdling and death. Beech leaf disease, associated with a nonnative nematode, causes the leaves to become thick, darkly striped and damaged, inhibiting photosynthesis and leading to decline. A friend recently removed numerous mature beech trees to prevent the dying trees from damaging vehicles.
The smooth bark of the beech has long invited people to carve initials and dates, thus becoming a living register of human presence. Legend has it that around 1760, frontiersman Daniel Boone carved “D. Boon cilled a bar” (killed a bear) on a tree in Tennessee, near Boone’s Creek. The inscription was reportedly legible until about 1880.
In 2020, Maine’s Register of Big Trees reported a huge beech in South Paris, standing 100 feet tall and 98 inches around, with a crown 37 feet wide. But how long can such trees survive multiple attacks on their health? With white ash trees dying from emerald ash borer damage, to also lose most of our beech trees would significantly impact forest diversity and cause grave environmental damage. A few beech trees display natural resistance to the pathogens, so we must hope that enough survive to eventually repopulate our forests.
