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| Location |
| Between mile markers 1.25 and 1.5 |
| Fact about this tree and why it was chosen |
| American beech is a mainstay in the mixed deciduous forests of eastern North America. This tree exhibits the classic smooth light grey bark for which this species is known. |
| Latin name |
| Fagus grandifolia |
| Fun facts |
- Beech trees produce single sexed flowers on the same tree.
- The sweet tasting triangular shaped beech nuts are enclosed in a distinctive burred covering.
- These nuts, from which we have derived a brand name of baby food and chewing gum among other products, are produced in earnest when trees are approximately 40 years old.
- These are an important part of the diet of many forest animals, including the red fox, opossum, white tail deer, squirrels, beavers, and many bird species.
- American beech is well known for its masting behavior in which copious amounts of nuts are produced in some years but not others.
- The animals that eat beech nuts are overwhelmed, leaving many unscathed, and ready to germinate the following spring.
- American beech trees have become threatened by the one-two punch of beech scale insects and fungal pathogens. The former wound the bark and allow the penetration of the fungus. Infected trees develop unsightly cankers, leading to the demise of many, but not all affected individuals.
- Because beech bark disease affects older trees primarily, and older, damaged trees vigorously produce new sprouts, the disease may result in the production of thickets of beech saplings to the exclusion of other species. In other cases, beech tree abundance declines as the gaps left by the death of adult trees releases other shade tolerant species such as eastern hemlock and sugar maple from chronic growth suppression.
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How to identify this tree: |
| Leaf |
| American beech is adorned with three-inch long, sharply toothed, elliptically shaped leaves which contribute to the brownish yellow hues of our forests in autumn. Notably, these leaves are not all shed each year. This can make spotting beech trees from a distance a simple matter in winter. |
| Soil |
| American beech is a shade tolerant species that prefers nutrient rich, moist soils that are not subject to prolonged water-logging. |
| Bark |
| The smooth grey trunk can be confused with maple trees that feature similar looking bark, but only in younger individuals. Older beech trunks are unique in appearance and have been compared to ‘elephant legs’. Native Americans used beech bark steeped in salt water as a poultice for treating poison ivy. |
| Other |
| American beech is a slow growing, slow to mature tree that may reach only seven feet in its first 25 years. Nonetheless, in optimal conditions, beech trees may live for 400 years and reach 120 feet tall. Up close, American beech trees are also recognizable in winter by their long, brown, cigar-shaped buds. |