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365 Urban Species. #313: American Beech
Nov. 10th, 2006 09:13 pm
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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.
European Beech in the Riverway, Boston, February 2006.
Urban species#037: European beech Fagus sylvtica
While The Urban Tree Book says the beech is "usually an isolated specimen in town," in the town of Brookline and the areas in Boston that border it, there are dozens. In the mid 1800's local notable David Sears ordered over 5000 beeches from a Liverpool company. Most are gathered in a square called Longwood Mall, often called the largest grove of European beeches in North America (for whatever that's worth).
( views of the Longwood Mall )
There are also several specimens dating from the same time on nearby streets in Brookline, as well as lining the Riverway (on the Boston side) and in the Mount Auburn Cemetery.
( Brookline )
It's easy to see the appeal of the European beech. It's a magnificent spreading tree nearly 100 feet tall at maturity, whose branches bend to reach the ground, creating a shady enclosed space, well-suited to picnics. Depending on what the nursery specified, the foliage can be purple, copper, or rich green. The bark is cool, smooth, and gray, and when the tree is old is bears distinguished folds and wrinkles, like the enormous leg of a vegetable elephant.
( vegetable elephant?! )
The bark is an irresistible temptation to vandals, whose decades-old scarifications can be seen smeared and elevated by the passing years. One wishes that lovers felt compelled to scratch a heart into the thin skin of a beech tree, that at least they would leave a date so that their disfigurements had historical value.
( loves come and go, the tree continues to grow )
The native North American beech is Fagus grandifola, distinguished by lighter, less-wrinkled bark, and an ability to grow in warmer climates than the European species. American beech is more prone to suckering, a form of vegetative reproduction wherein new saplings sprout from the roots of the parent tree. This leads to forested areas where American beech trees thickly cluster into miniature groves.
( miniature urban grove )
Beech trees are ecologically important on the east coast of North America. Beech nuts provide autumn and winter food for a vast variety of birds and mammals, including humans. European beech may have been introduced the British islands by prehistoric humans carrying beech nuts.
