OF Ohio 



55 



BEECH 



Fagus grandifolia. Ehrhart 



NO hardwood tree is more beautiful or more easily recog- 

 nized than the American Beech. 

 The leaves are simple, alternate, 3 to 4 inches long, 

 pointed at tip, wedge-shaped at base, coarsely-toothed along 



BEECH 

 One-half natural aize. 



margin. When mature they are stiff, leathery, with 

 straight, sunken veins. 



The flowers are of two kinds, appear about April. The 

 pollen-bearing occur in stalked round heads; the nut-produc- 

 ing in a few-flowered clusters. 



The fruit is a stalked, prickly, four-valved bur, usually 

 produced in pairs, containing triangular, pale brown, shin- 

 ing nutlets with sweet kernel. 



The bark is smooth, light gray, often marked with initial 

 carvings. The twigs are slender, dark gray, marked with 

 circle of bud-scale scars. The buds are alternate, slender, 

 conical, sharp-pointed, ^ of an inch long, 5 times as long 

 as wide, covered with 10 to 20 reddish-brown scales. 



The wood is very hard, strong, tough, not durable in 

 contact with soil. It is an excellent fuelwood. and is used 

 extensively in the manufacture of charcoal, chemicals, novel- 

 ties, woodenware, crates and general construction. 



The Beech is found from Nova Scotia to Wisconsin and 

 south to Florida and Texas. It is one of the most com- 

 mon forest trees of Ohio, being most abundant in the West- 

 ern Reserve. It is abundant in all parts of the State, ex- 

 cepting the southeastern. The beech trees one usually sees 

 about cities are the European Beech (Fagus sylvatica, Lin- 

 naeus) , which is the parent of the Purple or Copper Beech, 

 the Weeping Beech, and the Cut-leaved Beech. 



