The Garden Magazine, April, 1920 



119 



discovered in Serbia and introduced to gardens about a quarter 

 of a century ago. I have by no means mentioned all the 

 known forms, however; but enough has been said to show 

 the adaptable and precocious character of the common 

 Beech. The fruit of the Beech is a stalked capsule clothed 

 with simple pliant prickles. When ripe this opens at the 

 apex into four divisions, and sheds the two nuts that each 

 contains. The nut is sharply 3-angled, is rich in oil, and of 

 pleasant flavor. In France, more especially in former times, 

 the oil is expressed and used for culinary and illuminating 

 purposes. The nuts are greedily eaten by wild pigeons and 

 other birds, and by squirrels, deer, wild pigs, and other 

 animals. 



THE common Morel (Morchellaesculenta), a mushroom-like 

 fungus much used in culinary art for flavoring, grows in 

 Beech woods. It is always found in the spring and in France and 

 Germany the gathering of Morels is quite an industry among the 



peasantry. But more esteemed by the gourmet is the Truffle 

 (Tuber cibarium) which grows on the roots of the Beech. This 

 Fungus is subterranean in habit and never appears above the 

 ground. It is black, of irregular shape, about the size of a hen's 

 egg, covered with warty excrescences and possesses a very strong 

 but agreeable odor. It matures in the month of October and 

 the flesh is brown, veined with white. It is generally found by 

 pigs and dogs trained to search for it. Though it is by no means 

 confined thereto, France supplies commercially the bulk of the 

 Truffles of the world. 



Finally it may not be amiss to mention the fact that the firm, 

 close, smooth pale gray bark, "its glossy rind," seems to have 

 proved from early times an irresistible attraction to love-sick 

 swains, sentimental adolescents and other irresponsibles. 

 Everywhere one sees lovely Beech trunks disfigured by letters 

 and symbols cut into the bark, some many, many years ago. No 

 other tree indeed, suffers to the same extent from this particular 

 form of egotistical vandalism. 



THE FAMOUS BURNHAM BEECHES 



This remnant of a vast forest once extending across England and doubt- 

 less a thousand years old when William the Conqueror invaded the 

 land, is now a three-hundred-acre public playground acquired during 

 the present generation by the Corporation of the City of lx>ndon 



"Gardens may boast a tempting show 

 Of nectarines, grapes and peaches, 

 But daintiest truffles lurk below 

 The boughs of Burnham Beeches." 



