The American Beech Tree

Fagus Grandifolia. The American Beech tree grows best in rich, moist, well drained soil. That's probably why it grows so well in the forests in Connecticut. I love the trunk of the American Beech, it looks like the skin of an elephant. We have one in our back yard that looks like an elephants behind. It's split perfectly appearing to have legs. American Beeches have a shallow root system, so it really doesn't like city life, but can establish as deep as five feet into the soil. It can grow as high as 100 feet and 70 feet wide.

People are known to carve their initials into the smooth pale gray bark of the this tree because it will stay there as long as the tree stays alive.

The broad leaves are approximately three inches in length and will turn a pale yellow during the fall and stay on the tree in the winter when the tree is young, like in this picture. When the tree matures, the yellow leaves in the winter are less prevalent.

The Beech tree is more tolerant of shade than red oak, red maple, and yellow poplar. It's partly due to the low respiration rate and the quick response of the stomata which open when there is a sudden burst of sunlight and close quickly when the light diminishes.

Sources: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/american_beech.htm, http://www.yale.edu/fes505b/beech.html, http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/fagus/grandifolia.htm