NOTES ON THE ANCESTRY OF THE BEECH 



EDWARD W. BERRY 

 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 



The members of the beech family (Fagaceae) rival those of the 

 pine family from a utilitarian point of view, and while of later 

 origin they are equally enshrined in the traditions and poesy 

 of the Anglo-Saxon race and in the practices of innumerable 

 crafts from milling and the manufacture of wood-type to ship- 

 building — once a craft but now a disease in its iron age of 

 development. 



It will perhaps be possible at some future time to define the 

 demarcation between the beeches, oaks and chestnuts that com- 

 prise this great family of Fagaceae and to trace the lines of 

 descent among the hundreds of fossil and living species that are 

 involved. It is easier and less confusing to consider the single 

 line to which the beech belongs, not that there are no great gaps 

 in our knowledge of its geologic history, especially its place in the 

 botanical history of the great area of Asia, but because certain 

 striking conclusions can be deduced from the present state of our 

 knowledge. The beeches (the generic name Fagus is derived 

 from the classical ^ayav, to eat) comprise a fairly compact 

 group of species formerly referred to the single genus Fagus 

 (Linne, 1753) well illustrated by the common beeches of Europe, 

 southeastern North America and eastern Asia. 

 . There are four existing species of Fagus in the north temperate 

 zone. Two of these occur in the coastal region of eastern Asia. 

 The American beech, formerly much utilized in the manufac- 

 ture of charcoal, is now largely lumbered for a wide range of 

 special commercial uses such as wooden and laundry ware, 

 handles, clothes pins, shoes, etc., since the wood is hard, tough 

 and strong and does not decay or soften under water. The tree 

 ranges from Nova Scotia westward through Ontario to Wiscon- 



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