A nice, young American Beech in fall dress

I took this picture today. The more beeches I see, the more I am convinced that these are the trees that all other trees try to emulate.

Scott

Scott,

I'm with you on the beeches. I have been gaining a great appreciation for the fall color of the American Beech in its native habitat. As a matter of fact, I just logged on to write an 'Ode to F. grandifolia' and your post was on first on the list. You want that I should start another thread or should save intergalactic bits and hijack your thread for my pictures?

Ernie

What a pretty, lacy tree..I think it's the first time I've seen one...
kiska
alaska

Ernie,

I'd be honored if you hijacked my thread!

Scott

This is too cosmically weird I was working on writing a post re Beech forest in New Zealand this evening. This is how it begins...I am writing the austere members of dg to announce my nomination of the Beech tree as the premier survivor under adversity. We all have on our most revered lists the preMadonna's that when given the exact measure of all of its desired elements will grow into a specimen usually just a limb shy of our dreams.
So Ernie you hijack from Scott I'll hijack from you then....I am thinking this thread could run all winter. kt

I am right with you too Scott, in the appreciation of our native American beech. What a supremely elegant tree, with beautiful form, glistening gray bark, beautiful habit, beautiful fruits, and rich green glossy foliage which turns as great golden yellow in fall, with rich brown overtones. Sadly, across much of the east, beech forests (and those mixed with sugar maple) are far less common than they used to be.; So many of the trees are marred by bark carving too, so around here it is relatively rare to see larger beech stands that have intact, unspoiled bark. The younger trees have a gawky individuality that I like too.. Wish there are a lot more of them.

Much more of the forests in SE MI are oak hickory (or even worse, norway maple - honeysuckle - buckthorn -- garlic mustard...).

What a sad place the eastern forests would be without beeches.....

It is always a pleasure to walk in a part of Michigan that is all state forest and visit some of the beeches that we huge when I was a child and find them untouched hidden in the sugar maples and alder.

I appreciate beeches also. Some of our beeches turn all at once, but the ones that we really like are those that turn color on the outside before the inner leaves. They are still green on the inner leaves while the outer ones are gold, and when the inner leaves turn gold, the outer leaves are coppery. Add a bit of late afternoon sun, and they glow. (I guess I'll have to take pictures next year.) Don't know why they differ so much; the ones that turn all at once are mingled with the ones that have the color gradations. They, along with viburnums and oaks, extend our color season by a couple of weeks.

I also like them in winter, not only for the silvery bark, but also for the light chestnut leaves that cling to the branches and flutter in the wind and the long pointed buds.

Could anyone tell me how drought tolerant these trees are? From what I have read, it seems they have to have plenty of moisture.

The ones we had in Michigan often were in wet foot soil. IE near ponds, creeks, and low woodland depressions. I have 2 here though that are irrigated but are thriving in sunny exposed rich soil areas.

There are a lot of them here in ordinary wooded land, often on hill tops and hill sides, and never irrigated. They do fine. It might be merely a question of getting planted trees established.

Scott

I had a suprise visit last night so I didn't get around to hijacking this thread. The following images are a collection from the last couple of years, mainly in Central IN. 1st image is from Yellowwood State Forest, IN. American Beeches in various stages of fall color with a lovely underplanting of Vinca minor. A mile or two of a particular road in Yellowwood is lined with Vinca that goes in about 50 yards. Sounds like a state project from the old days perhaps?

#2 is a young American Beech growing out of a hillside with a more natural underplanting of Asarum canadense. This was within 20 yards of the vinca.

#3 is a road through Yellowwood lined with American Beech and a few native collaborators.

This message was edited Oct 31, 2006 8:58 PM

#4 is F. grandifolia in natural association with Canadian Hemlock at Turkey Run S.P.

#5 also from Turkey Run shows off the irregular branching pattern on a young plant.

#6 That great, smooth, grey bark that I love! Unfortunately, I've not spent much time photographing trunks (not sure why) so this is the best that I have.

#6 One of the things that really piqued my interest in the plant back before I really cared for it was the way that some plants hold their foliage late into the season making them stand out in the winter forest like beacons. Taken near Turkey Run.

#7 Wet snowfall coats the branches in KY, just NW of Louisville. Beech is just right of center, more easily spotted if you look for the light tan leaves.

#8 Fall Color at the Bernheim Arboretum

Finally, a color I will never be able to convince the vast majority of consumers to like, brown. Sun-kissed and set off by other yellow leaves in the background, brown is beautiful. If only this tree were as easy to propagate and grow as Freeman Maples! But then I'd probably tire of it like I do the maples. A splendid tree even only if viewed in it's natural habitat.
[stepping off of soapbox]


Regards,
Ernie

Wonderful soapbox Ernie. I miss the hardwood forests of the midwest. I can smell the leaves sitting on the ground and the early leaf mold filling the air with richness in #1 & 2. Thank you.

Sofer,

Your welcome. I miss all of those foul-smelling conifers that y'all have growing all over the mountains ;-) One day I'll be back up to NW Montana.

Regards,
Ernie

So maybe you all could come up here to my house. We could have an Intervention with my neighbor. His HUGE sugar maple is overpowering my 15 ft beech!

I loved the snow covered beech, And I really appreciate you posting the irregular branching of the young beeches. (post 9:39 &9:53) I think at this stage they are so much what a bonsai tries to be. If that makes sense.

Nice thread. I must share the pic I took a couple of days ago when coming back up from my color tour that included Steel Creek on the Buffalo River.
http://pic16.picturetrail.com/VOL635/2413050/13474297/200391490.jpg
This one tree stood out amongst the many along the road.

Marian,

Great tree! A real giant.

Lefty- I'm not good at confrontation. Could we just email pictures and see if that works?

S.O. I found the branching too interesting to not attempt taking a picture.

Regards,
Ernie

Front yard beech

Another

I'd love to have one in our yard, but am too old to start now! :-(
They are slow growing...aren't they?

Hmm, I can't answer about how quickly they grow because the ones in my neighborhood have all been well-established to say the least. They certainly have gotten much bigger over 20+ years, but I don't have the background to say whether that was fast or slow. All "real" trees grow too slowly for me! ("Real" meaning something not like White Mulberry which I consider a trash tree.) I can tell you the Tulip Poplars easily establish and grow pretty quickly, but the Beech seeds don't. The Beech and Tulip Poplars are native here and are all over the neighborhood.

Plant one for someone else to enjoy 50 years from now.

Amen to that, NJG. The century old beauties we see around here were planted by people who would never see them reach their zenith. Planting oaks and beeches for future generations might be a nice way to make amends for some of our mistakes.

Scott

I cannot imagine when I run out of places to plant trees regardless of my age. The joy I get just perceiving the 25 year old in my mind while watching it grow is plenty. Yes and just think about Decumbent's legacy. An Arboretum in Ohio that future gardeners will go to to see the future of the trees they are then planting. Ahhh the joy of planting a tree. I remember planting trees in City of Be..... in the center medians and the city just thought they had planted them themselves. Now they are beautiful specimens that I can sit and enjoy as a personal addition to a beautiful city. I had run out of room in my small lot there and found some beautiful specimens of Styrax that I love and they are now part of the driving experience.

I successfully transplanted a six foot American Beech eight years ago. The tree is now about fifteen feet tall and doing extremely well. This tree was a seedling and not the result of a root sucker so it was easy to move and establish. These trees are beautiful when young and I would strongly recommend that you add one to your garden.

I agree with Scott about planting oak and other slower growing trees for the future. Every year I plant a few hundred to a thousand along local wetlands, streams and rivers.

The thin bark on them looks so tender. How well do they heal from scrapes and other wounds? My main worry would be branches falling from other trees and scratching down the side of it.

The bark is thin, but I've never noticed it be nicked or scraped from falling branches or any natural source. Or if they have been (there are some marks), they heal well. My impression is that they are very tough trees. I base this in part on one in my backyard that has had a very deep wound, about four feet long, that happened sometime before 1965. (I don't know how it happened.) It has continued to grow, branch and leaf like the others. Maybe not quite the same because a younger one in the backyard now has a bit larger girth. I'll try to get a picture. More amazingly, I remembered my father filled the wound with cement! (Which is now all gone.) Was that some old time way of treating trees? I don't know where my father got that idea. I thought it was a strange thing to do.

People actually do still pack tree cavities with cement. I don't know why. The worse thing, I actually had a tree trimmer recommend doing it to my old pecan tree two years ago.

We were lucky enough to move into a yard w/ a mature beech, right on the fence line w/ our neighbor, the soil level seems to be almost sunken over there, nothing will grow underneath, but the leaves at all time of the year are beautiful...

Here's what I have to be bothered to look at every day, outside the front door at work.

I'm sorry!!!!!!!! can't you find another entry, maybe the back.

Donna