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How to identify — Beech has a distinctive smooth, light gray bark and long, elliptical coarsely-toothed leaves. On younger trees, dried leaves often remain throughout the winter; drained of their chlorophyll they no longer catch the light, but they brighten as the light passes through them. The triangular shaped nuts are encased in a prickly husk that ripens and Habitat/Distribution — Beech is found throughout the hardwood forests of eastern North America, from the Great Lakes, Mississippi River valley and Gulf Coast to the eastern seaboard as far north as the St. Lawrence River. In our region it is found primarily on coarser-textured, well-drained loamy soils and is generally intolerant of wet or thin rocky soils. It is a major part of the dominant beech-birch-maple forest found on hills and lower slopes to an elevation of about 2400'. Ecology — Beech is relatively shade tolerant and can grow to an age of over 200 years and a size of over 24" in diameter. It sprouts prolifically from its roots, and mature stands may contain an extensive understory of beech "suckers". If these stands are opened up to light, the result can be a very dense stand of beech saplings that are known by foresters as "beech hells". An important wildlife plant, beech is the primary "hard mast" species in northern New England, whose nuts are favored by black bear, deer, squirrels and turkeys. The bark scars easily, often displaying claw marks from bears climbing to harvest nuts or mark territory. Unfortunately, beech has fallen prey to the introduced beech bark disease, which causes acne-like proturberances and eventually large cracks and rough spots on the bark. This is a fungal disease that is spread by a scale insect. The disease complex originated in Europe, was introduced to Nova Scotia in about 1890, reached eastern Maine by the 1930s, and has now spread as far west as Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Though the disease is less virulent than other introduced diseases such as chestnut blight, and does not immediately threaten the species, it has greatly reduced the health and vigor of beech in affected areas, and most trees will die before reaching the large size that is especially valuable for seed production. Environmental Change Issues — Though beech’s range extends to the southeastern United States, it is a major species only in the northeast and down the Appalachian Mountains. A warming climate could eliminate the species from the southern parts of its range and reduce its importance in the northeast. |
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opens in the fall. The long slender leaf buds are prominent in winter, and elongate to 2-3 inches as they unfurl in the spring, making the species easy to identify even before the leaves emerge.
