The beech is a deciduous, shallow-rooted forest tree of the genus Fagus, family Fagaceae, natural order Cupuliferae, native to the northern hemisphere and well known in various parts of the world including New Zealand. The Fagus sylratica, a common European forest-tree, sometimes reaches a height of 35 meters, with a diameter of one or more, is known by its waved and somewhat oval leaves, its triangular fruit inclosed by pairs in a prickly husk, and by its smooth and silvery bark. The wood is hard and brittle, and if exposed to the air liable soon to decay. It is, however, peculiarly useful to cabinet-makers and turners, carpenters' planes, furniture, sabots, etc, being made of it; and it is durable under water for piles and mill-sluices.
The fruit or beech-mast, when dried and powdered, may be made into a wholesome bread; it has also occasionally been roasted and used as a substitute for coffee, and yields a sweet and palatable oil used by the poorer of Silesia instead of butter. Beech-mast is, however, chiefly used as food for swine, poultry, and other animals. The leaves of the beech-tree collected in the autumn, before they have been injured by the frosts, have in some places in the past been used to stuff mattresses. Young beech trees keep their dead leaves, and are often used as hedges.
The North American white beech is identical with the European species. Red-leaved varieties are now common, the American Fagus ferruginea being of this colour. Research Beech
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Beech