1950 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
A. Cupule muricate, capsuliform. Ovaries included. Young leaves plicate. 
Natives of Europe, and of North and South America. 
a. Species in Cultivation in British Gardens. 
¥ 1. F.syzva’tica LZ. The Wood, or common, Beech. 
Identification. Lin. Sp. Pl., 1416.; Hort. Cliff., 447.; Fl. Suec., 785. 871.; Roy. Lugdb., 79.; Mat. 
Med., 203. ; Du Roi Harbk., 1. p. 203.; Pollich. Pall., No, 910.; Willd. Arb.,113.; Willd. Sp. Pl., 
4. p. 459.5 Hoffm. Germ., 339. ; Roth.'Germ., 1. p. 409., 2. p. 489. ; Pall. Ross., 2. p. 5.; Vill. Dauph., 
3. p. 796.; N. Du Ham., 2. p. 79.; Br. Fl, 1. p. 408.; Eng. Bot., t. 1846.; Eng. Fl., 4 p. 152. ; 
Hook, Br. Fl, ed. 3., Ps 411. ; Mackay Fl. Hibern., p, 254,; Lindl Synop., p. 239. 
Synonymes. Castanea Fagus Scop. Carn., No. 1188.; Fagus Bauh, Pin., 419., Cam. Epit., 112., 
Matth., 205., Dod., 832., Ger., 1255., Ger. Emac., 1444., Park. Theat., 1403., Bauh. Hist., 1. 
p. 118. Rai Hist., 1381., Synop., 439.; F. sylvéstris Michx. N. Amer., 3. t. 107., Oxya, Greek; 
Fagus, Lat. ; Hetre commun, f7.; gemeine Buche, Ger. ; Rood-beuke, Dutch. 
Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 1846.; N. Du Ham., t. 24, ; and the plate of this tree in our last Volume. 
Spec. Char., §&c. Leaves ovate, glabrous, obsoletely dentate ; ciliate on their 
margins. (Willd.) A tree, varying from 60 ft. to 100 ft. in height; wild in 
various parts of Europe; and one variety in North America. 
Varieties. 
¥ F. s. 2 purpurea Ait. Hort. Kew., v. p. 297., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; F. 
s. 2 atro-ribens Du Roi; Hétre noir Fr. ; the purple Beech ; has the 
buds and young shoots of arose colour. The leaves, when half-de- 
veloped, are of acherry red; and, when fully matured, at midsummer, 
of so dark a purple, as to appear almost black. It is to be observed 
of this variety, that the bark, not only of the young shoots, but even 
of the old wood, and of the trunk of the tree, partakes strongly of the 
same dark colour as the leaves. In early spring, when the leaves of the 
purple beech are agitated by the wind, during bright sunshine, their 
clear red gives the tree the appearance of being on fire; an effect, 
Bosc observes, so truly magical, that it is scarcely credible by those 
who have not seen it. The red or purple colour of this variety 
varies in degree of intensity in different individuals ; partly from these 
having been raised from seeds, and partly from the influence of soil 
and situation. The purple beech is a native of Germany, where it 
was discovered by accident in a wood, according to some, between 
the middle and the latter end of the last century ; and the original 
tree is said to be still standing. From this tree all the purple beeches 
in Europe have been produced; partly from seeds (see Gard. Mag., 
vol. x. p. 180.), but chiefly by grafting. The seeds, in general, come 
up tolerably true; though in some the shade of purple is very faint, 
and in others the leaves are quite green. The different shades of 
purple have given rise to several subvarieties, which are kept distinct 
by some nurserymen; but none that we have seen are worth notice, 
except what is called the copper-coloured beech. In general, the 
purple beech is propagated by budding or grafting on the common 
beech ; but sometimes it is increased by layers, which require two 
years to become properly rooted, and, it is said, never make such 
vigorous trees as grafted ones; doubtless, from the greater vigour of 
the stock in the latter case. Michaux the younger informed Bosc 
that there was a purple beech in Belgium which ripened seeds, and 
that from these seeds several subvarieties had been produced, and, 
among others, the copper beech, before mentioned. The largest 
specimens of the purple beech are, probably, in Germany; though we 
have not been able to hear of any on the Continent higher than 
between 30 ft. and 40 ft., with the exception of two; the one at 
Harbke, in Brunswick, which, in 1835, was 70 ft. high, with a trunk 
2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and had been planted upwards of 60 years. 
It produces on an average, 20 lbs. of mast yearly, which sells at 2 
dollars per lb. The other tree is near Antwerp, in the garden 
of M. Smetz, at Deurne, and is thus described in Neill’s Hor- 
ticultural Tour, as seen by the Deputation of the Caledonian 
