365 Urban Species. #313: American Beech

[urbpan]

Photo by urbpan. Location: The Riverway, Boston.

Urban species #313: American beech Fagus grandifola

American beech is much more rare in cities than its European cousin. It is much less tolerant of the stresses of urban life, but can survive for many decades if well-placed. The woodier parts of the Emerald Necklace in Boston contain several scattered American beeches, in between hundreds of European beeches and grand red oaks. Century-old trees, surrounded by dozens of saplings that have sprung from their roots, stand in the thicker margins of the park, far from the road traffic that would compress the soil and starve their roots. The young trees hold on to their dry golden leaves well into winter, providing the bare landscape with patches of foliage. The fruit of beech trees, the beech nut, is an important winter food for many animals, including squirrels, wild turkeys, and others.


Photo of same American beech tree, with suckers (sons of beeches!), taken back in February, by urbpan, for the entry on European beech.

Comments

[droserary.livejournal.com]

*snickers* Sons of beeches. I first heard that from an elderly professor I once had, who was not known for making funny botanical jokes. Imagine this stalwart figure, pointing to the ring of trees and breaking the silence of the forest by screaming, "SONS OF BEECHES." It got our attention.

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

Awesome tree :)
Only thing I might mention is their plight with Nectria :(

[treeclimber47.livejournal.com]

A beech of any species is my most favorite tree. Here's a tall American Beech with a 40" diameter trunk (at chest height), in excellent health just half a mile or so over the border south of Boston:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturejournal/291226625/)

Here's another in the same woods, I think this one's Fagus sylvatica, the european species growing in the woods as if it was a native:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturejournal/69857512/)