Scientific name: Fagus sylvatica
Common Name: Common beech, European beech
Family: Fagaceae (Oak family)
Conservation Status: Least Concern
Locations in the Washington Park Arboretum: Oak Collection area, directly east from the Graham Visitor Center

Fagus sylvatica, 3 specimens 595-44-A &B & 907-50-A: grids 42-1E, 43-1E

F.sylvatica ‘Aspleniifolia’ 1142-49-A: grid 41-1E

F.sylvatica ‘Dawyck’ 490-57-A: grid 40-1E

F.sylvatica ‘Riversii’ 682-67-A: grid 44-B

F.sylvatica ‘Rohanii’ 382-50-A: grid 42-1E

F.sylvatica ‘Spaethiana’ 654-54-A: grid 42-1E

F.sylvatica f. pendula 169-66-A: grid 37-2E

Native Range: Europe: NW into Scandinavia and Great Britain, SW to the mountains of Northern Spain, East to the Crimean region of Ukraine and SE to the Balkan peninsula. West Asia:  Iran, Turkey and Caucasus
Culture/Habitat: Woodlands of hills and mountains with good draining soil. Does not grow well in poorly draining soils or in drought conditions.
Accolades: RHS Award of Garden Merit, Great Plant Pick (many cultivars)

Before the great rush of botanical introductions of new tree species into Europe began, one of the most prized and most widely planted hardwood trees in Europe was the common beech, Fagus sylvatica. Common beech trees can grow to 140 feet in height with over 100 feet in spread, with wild trees aging over 500 years. Mature trees are majestic, showcasing colorful foliage, muscular branching and smooth gray bark often described as “elephantine”. The wood of common beech is easily worked with, dyed or glued. For this reason, it is a prized furniture wood, though it rots quickly if left unprotected outdoors.

Fagus sylvatica is not merely a native tree of Europe and part of western Asia. The common beech has been cultivated on estates and among castles for hundreds of years. One estimate counts 147 cultivars, though many may be duplicates or otherwise invalid, this demonstrates the deep history of Fagus cultivation in Europe. In addition to being a majestic specimen tree, common beech were a very useful way of building long-lived fences by planting upright cultivars close together so their branches would inter-twine. The longest and tallest clipped hedge is a beech hedge planted circa CE 1745 which measures 530 meters long and averages over 30 meters high. Common beech were also used to line roads and highways such as The Beech Walk in High Elms Country Park in south London which was planted by John William Lubbock in 1840. Another spectacular example is the planting along Bregagh road in northern Ireland consisting of over 150 beech trees planted in 1840, lining the way to Gracehill House, the home of James Stuart. The Bregagh road beech trees can be seen in episode one in season two of “Game of Thrones,” known there as the Dark Hedges- part of the King’s Road.

The fruit of beech trees are known as beechnuts and are an important source of food for black bear, wild turkeys, deer, squirrels and chipmunks. Other birds who enjoy beechnuts include titmice, grouse, wood ducks and woodpeckers, as well as some hawk species. Large amounts of fruit can be produced by a single tree, though typically not two years in a row and not until the tree reaches maturity, typically about 30 years of age. Studies have shown a correlation between good beechnut years and high black bear cub birth rates in some areas.

The genus name Fagus comes from the Latin word “fagus”, meaning ‘beech’, which in turn comes from the Greek “phegos”, meaning ‘edible’ and sometimes ‘oak’. In the days of the Roman empire, the northern barbarians wrote on beechen tablets and it is thought that the English word “book” derives from this. In German the word for beech is Bϋche, while Buch is “book”. And in Old English, bōc means both ‘beech’ and ‘book’.

Common beech grow from the edge of subalpine regions where just a few trees can blend into the forest to lowland forests where dense stands of beech create such a darkness that other tree species struggle to compete at all and the ground is practically barren of undergrowth. Some trees canopies will grow massive in size, but also can dominate the soil surface with their substantial root plate. Beech trees have dense surface roots, accompanied by many sinker roots. It is not recommended to plant precious or delicate plants near the trunk. Natives such as Polystichum munitum and Berberis nervosa can survive the competition for root space. Fagus sylvatica require good draining soils, regular watering in only the first year or two and just the occasional dry spell watering after that. Aphids are not uncommon living on the underside of beech leaves. Typically not disfiguring or harmful to the tree, beech trees should not be planted over parking areas or patios due to the honeydew that aphids produce.

Historically, variations in plant structure and form are described in botanical terms such as varieties (Fagus sylvatica var. heterophylla for cut leaved trees) and forms (F.sylvatica f. (for forma) purpurea, for purple-leaved trees). However, there are so many clones now that display more than one distinctive affect (e.g. a weeping, cut-leaf, purple foliage tree), it would be very difficult and immensely confusing to catalog them all in this traditional style. A compromise has been used by some writers and publications which use a botanical classification for wild-occurring variants (e.g. F.sylvatica forma pendula) but will list clones exhibiting multiple variations in form simply under their cultivar name (e.g. F. sylvatica ‘Black Swan’). Below are a few of the cultivars found in the Arboretum:

Fagus sylvatica ‘Aspleniifolia’   This green-leaved tree is known for its lacey, delicate foliage. The leaves are irregularly incised, some lobes cutting to the mid-rib of the leaf, some barely at all. Branches often have particularly linear leaves at the tips, emphasizing the fern-like appeal of the foliage. This cultivar grows relatively slowly and remains dense with branches, but will ultimately attain a mature size for the species. As you travel from the Graham Visitor Center toward the Willcox footbridge, turn north on the trail which leads into the Oak Collection and you will soon encounter F. sylvatica ‘Aspleniifolia’ of your left.

Fagus sylvatica ‘Riversii’   This cultivar is one of the best purple forms. The leaves are a vibrant wine-red in spring, deepening to a dark purple for the summer. This cultivar can best easily viewed to the south from the Arboretum Loop Trai