American Beech Fagus grandifolia
Other Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- FAG-us gran-dih-FOH-lee-uh
- This plant has low severity poison characteristics.
- See below
- Description
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The American beech is native to eastern North America and found throughout the state of North Carolina. It is a sturdy, imposing, large deciduous tree typically growing to 60 to 80 feet tall or more with a dense, upright-oval to a rounded-spreading crown and smooth bark that remains smooth as the tree ages. It is a low-branched tree with its mature trunk ranging from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. This tree is slightly salt tolerant.
It can be a beautiful tree in a large area, but is not recommended for smaller landscapes. American beech prefers moist, well-drained, acid soil, is intolerant of wet or compacted soil, prefers sun but will tolerate shade. It grows best in moist mountain coves and is often found scattered with oaks and hickories in rich, well-drained bottom land. In the mountains, it is sometimes found in dense, unmixed stands or in association with sugar maples, yellow birch, and other hardwoods. It can be difficult to grow other plants or lawn underneath a standing American beech. Beech develops suckers from its vast system of surface roots and entire beech groves have often grown from the roots of a single tree. Fall color is golden bronze and leaves often last into winter.
Insects, Diseases, or Other Plant Problems:
Beech scale is an occasional problem on this tree. Beech blight aphids are common, forming dense colonies on small branches and the undersides of leaves. The aphids are food for the Harvester butterfly (Feniseca tarquinius), North Carolina's only carnivorous butterfly.
VIDEO Created by Elizabeth Meyer for "Trees, Shrubs and Conifers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Fagus
- Species:
- grandifolia
- Family:
- Fagaceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- An excellent shade tree. This tree was used by Native Americans for building materials, medicine, and food. Wood is hard, strong, and tough though it will rot when exposed to weather or soil. The wood is used for flooring, tools, containers, and has a high fuel value.
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Eastern Canada to Central Mexico
- Distribution:
- Maine to Florida, west to Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.
- Fire Risk Rating:
- medium flammability
- Wildlife Value:
- The nuts are eaten by small mammals, white-tailed deer, black bears, foxes, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, ducks, woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, American crows and blue jays.
- Play Value:
- Screening
- Shade
- Wildlife Food Source
- Wind Break
- Edibility:
- Nutmeats, in small quantities, edible raw or cooked.
- Dimensions:
- Height: 60 ft. 0 in. - 80 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 40 ft. 0 in. - 80 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Edible
- Native Plant
- Perennial
- Poisonous
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Dense
- Erect
- Oval
- Pyramidal
- Rounded
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
- Maintenance:
- Low
- Texture:
- Medium
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Dappled Sunlight (Shade through upper canopy all day)
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Available Space To Plant:
- 6-feet-12 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Fruit Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Type:
- Capsule
- Nut
- Fruit Description:
- Prickly brownish fruit; seeds trigonous. Nuts are irregularly triangular, shiny brown and edible. Attached in groups of 2 or 3, prickly husks that remain on the tree after the nut has fallen, 3/4 of an inch long. September to October.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Green
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Flower Description:
- Monoecious yellowish green flowers bloom from March to May on the American beech. It's male flowers form in drooping, long-stemmed, globular clusters and the female flowers in short spikes. Female flowers give way to triangular nuts enclosed by spiny bracts. Beechnuts ripen in fall and are edible.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Gold/Yellow
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Glossy
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Gold/Yellow
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Elliptical
- Oblong
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Serrate
- Hairs Present:
- Yes
- Leaf Length:
- 3-6 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- Simple, alternate, ovate-oblong leaves, 2 to 5 inch long, half as wide, acuminate tip, coarsely serrate. Grouped toward the ends of branches or short branchlets. Leaves are dark green and glossy above, lighter green below, sometimes tomentose along the midrib and in vein axils on underside. Parallel veins pierce the margin; little bristles on the margin.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Light Gray
- Surface/Attachment:
- Smooth
- Bark Description:
- Trunks have distinctive thin, smooth, gray bark.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Gray/Silver
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Form:
- Zig Zags
- Stem Surface:
- Smooth (glabrous)
- Stem Description:
- Somewhat zig-zag, grayish, shiny. Awl-shaped, imbricate, 3/4-1" long and slender, shiny, pointy.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Naturalized Area
- Riparian
- Woodland
- Landscape Theme:
- Garden for the Blind
- Native Garden
- Shade Garden
- Design Feature:
- Border
- Shade Tree
- Street Tree
- Attracts:
- Small Mammals
- Songbirds
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Black Walnut
- Deer
- Salt
