AMENTIFERZ. 169 
Gray says— 
“There at the foot of yonder nodding beech 
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, 
His listless length at noontide he would stretch, 
And pore upon the brook that bubbles by.” 
Wordsworth writes— 
“A single beech tree grew 
Within the grove of firs; and in the fork 
Of that one beech appeared a thrush’s nest— 
A last year’s nest, conspicuously built, 
Of such small elevation from the ground 
As gave sure sign that they who in that house 
Of nature and of love had made their home 
Amid the fir trees all the summer long, 
Dwelt in a tranquil spot.” 
The beech tree often attains to a great size. Mr. Jesse, in his account of forest 
trees, mentions one near Sawyer’s Lodge in Windsor Forest, which measures at six 
feet from the ground thirty-six feet in circumference. It is now protected from 
injury, and nature seems to be doing her best to repair the damage which its exposure 
to the attacks of man and beast has produced. It must once have been hollow, but 
the vacuum is nearly filled up. One might almost fancy that liquid wood which had 
afterwards hardened had been poured into this tree. The twistings and distortions 
of this huge substance have a curious and striking effect. There is no bark on this 
extraneous substance, but the surface is smooth, hard, and without any appearance of 
decay. Dr. Withering says, “In the ‘ Arctic Zoology’ is described, on an island of 
the Lake Wetter, and about the extreme range of these trees northward, a majestic 
plant called the Twelve Apostles, from its dividing into as many great stems. Only 
eleven of these are now standing, for some years since a zealous peasant cut down 
one of them, declaring that the traitor Judas should have no part with his brethren! 
The names of many distinguished visitors are recorded on the bark of this surpassing 
tree, among which are those of Charles XI. and XII., Queen Eleanora, &e.” The 
largest beeches now existing in England are the Studley Beech and the Knowle Beech. 
The Burnham Beeches are well known, and stand in a tract of woodland above four 
miles from Stoke Pogis in Buckinghamshire, which is celebrated as the scene of 
Gray’s poetic musings. 
The beech tree shelters and its shade is the favourite locality of two well known and 
valuable fungi—the Morchella esculenta, the morel, and Tuber cibariwm, the common 
truffle. The morel is a mushroom-like fungus, growing in great abundance in the 
forests of Germany and France, particularly after any of the trees have been burned 
down. This having been observed, led in Germany to the burning of woods in order to 
produce morels, and consequently great numbers of valuable trees were destroyed, until 
it was forbidden by law. This fungus is used chiefly in a dried state to give flavour to 
dishes, and many persons gain their living by finding and drying the morels, which 
they do by running a thread through them and hanging them in an airy place. In 
England they are comparatively rare, but Mr. Berkeley tells us that in Kent they are 
so abundant as to be used for making catsup. The common truffle, Tuber cibarium, is, 
if possible, more highly prized than the morel, it is also more difficult to find, as 
instead of appearing above the surface like a mushroom, it is buried in the ground 
like a potato. They are generally found by dogs or pigs trained for the purpose. 
VOL. VIII. Z 
