CHAPTER XII 



The Beech 



There is no finer sight than an ancient beech woods, or even a 

 single tree, for it has almost the ruggedness of the oak, and a more 

 graceful beauty withal. Its smooth light colored bark fits like a 

 glove, and from time immemorial in regions where there were 

 lads and lasses the boles have been carved with initials, impaled 

 hearts, and lovers' knots. The roots have a habit of spreading 

 near the surface of the ground so that they show, especially on 

 slopes where the shaded ground is subject to wash, giving them the 

 appearance of grimly grasping their mother earth as if afraid 

 of separation. 



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 milHng and the manufacture of wood-type to shipbuilding — 

 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 comprise 

 this great family of Fagaceae and to trace the Hnes 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 liistory, 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 

 0a7€ij/, 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. 



119 



