552 FAGUS 



covered with bristles and f to i in. long, solitary on an erect downy stalk 

 about as long as itself. 



Native of Europe, and indigenous to England. Few trees are more pleasing 

 than a well-grown beech, either in the wide, spreading form it takes when 

 growing in an isolated position, or when, in close association with others of 

 its kind, and drawn up by them, it forms a tall, smooth, column-like trunk. 

 The largest of the former kind in Britain is the famous beech at Newbattle 

 Abbey, 100 ft. high, 130 ft. in diameter, the trunk 21 ft. in girth.' Of the latter 

 the finest is in Ashridge Park, Bucks, known as the "Queen Beech-' 3 130 to 

 140 ft. high. The young foliage of the beech is one of the most beautiful 

 objects in nature in May a tender shimmering green of a shade not 

 quite matched by any other tree. The beech has produced many varieties, 

 some of which have first been noticed in gardens, others in a wild state. The 

 following is a selection of the more important : 



Var. CONGLOMERATA. A dwarf bush of rounded form, leaves small, con- 

 torted. 



Var. CRISTATA, Loddiges. Leaves very shortly stalked, coarsely triangular- 

 toothed, apex decurved. 



Var. CUPREA, Loddiges. Copper Beech. This probably originated as 

 a seedling from the purple beech (var. purpurea). Its leaves are paler than 

 in that variety, and of a coppery red. 



Var. FASTIGIATA. Dawyck Beech. A tree of fastigiate habit first noticed 

 in the grounds of Mr F. R. S. Balfour of Dawyck ; it may be similar to 

 one called PYRAMIDALIS by Petzold in 1864. 



Var. GRANDIDENTATA. Leaves coarsely toothed ; branches slender. 



Var. HETEROPHYLLA, London. Fern-leaved Beech. Of all the forms of 

 beech marked by differences in shape of leaf, this is the handsomest. In this 

 variety the leaf assumes various shapes ; sometimes it is long and narrow 

 (4 ins. long by J in. wide), sometimes deeply and pinnately lobed, some 

 of the lobes penetrating to the midrib ; between these two, numerous inter- 

 mediate shapes occur, often on the same branch. Unlike many of the 

 varieties of beech with curious foliage, this makes a fine shapely tree, and it 

 is a distinct ornament to any garden. There is a fine specimen in Mr 

 Hamilton Buchanan's garden at Leny, near Callander, N.B., which 

 is about 60 ft. high, and whose trunk is over 7 ft. in girth. Others 

 are at Devonhurst House, Chiswick, and in Mr A. Waterer's nursery at 

 Knap Hill. The forms called asplenifolia, incisa, laciniata, and salicifolia 

 belong here. 



Var. MACROPHYLLA (latifolia). Some of the beeches are remarkable for 

 large leaves, and the one long known in gardens under both these names 

 is a striking form ; its leaves are usually 3 to 5 ins. long, 2 to 3^ ins. wide. 

 In 1898, the King of Denmark's gardener sent to Kew a variety that had been 

 called " Prince George of Crete." This is the biggest-leaved beech I have 

 seen, some leaves being 7 ins. long, 5^- ins. wide. 



Var. PENDULA. Weeping Beech. There are several types of weeping beech. 

 The one best known under the name pendula is not a high tree, but sends 

 out its great arms in a horizontal or drooping direction ; from these the 

 smaller branches depend almost vertically, the whole making a tent-like 

 mass. Var. MILTONENSIS is a weeping beech which originated at Milton 

 Park, Northamptonshire ; the trunk of this form is erect, the branches 

 horizontal and pendulous. Var. BORNYENS1S has a somewhat similar habit, 

 but the side branches are more pendulous. Var. PAGNYENSIS, found 

 originally in the forest of Pagny (Meurthe-et-Moselle), forms a spreading 

 head of drooping branches, the whole tree of umbrella-like shape. Var. 

 REMILLYENSIS and var. TORTUOSA are of the same class. 



Var. PURPUREA, Aiton. Purple Beech. Leaves deep purple when 

 mature ; of a beautiful pale red in spring. This is by far the most popular 



