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American beech

Fagus grandifolia

Summary 8

Fagus grandifolia, commonly known as American Beech or North American beech, is a species of beech tree. This is Latin for: Fagus, Beech; grandi, great; folia, leaves. It is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. Trees in the southern half of the range are sometimes distinguished as a variety, F. grandifolia var....

Associated forest cover 9

Within its wide range in eastern North America, beech is  associated with a large number of trees. Some of the principal  associates are sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch (Betula  alleghaniensis), American basswood (Tilia americana),  black cherry (Prunus serotina), southern magnolia  (Magnolia grandiflora), eastern white pine (Pinus  strobus), red spruce (Picea rubra), and several  hickories (Carya spp.) and oaks Quercus spp.). Beech  is included in 20 forest cover types and is a major component in  the following three (5): Sugar Maple-Beech-Yellow Birch (Society  of American Foresters Type 25), Red Spruce-Sugar Maple-Beech  (Type 31), and Beech-Sugar Maple (Type 60). Beech is a minor  species in 17 other cover types.

Broad scale impacts of fire 10

Fire wounds may serve as entrance courts for a host of decaying fungi
[41].

Climate 11

Within the range of beech, annual precipitation usually is from  760 mm to 1270 mm (30 to 50 in) (39); however, some beech is  found in Michigan where precipitation is about 580 mm (23 in),  and in Canada where about 640 mm (25 in) fall annually.  Precipitation during the growing season varies from 250 mm to 460  min (10 to 18 in). Beech is a mesophytic species; it uses twice  as much water for transpiration and growth processes annually,  compared to some drought resistant oaks and even lesser amounts  by some pines.

    The growing season for beech varies from 100 to 280 days; the  species is found in one county in Michigan where the growing  season is only 92 days.

    Mean annual temperatures range from 4° to 21° C (40°  to 70° F). Beech can exist under temperature extremes lower  than -42° C (-44° F) and 38° C (100° F).  Higher than average summer temperatures may be unfavorable for  beech growth.

Comments 12

A. J. Rehder (1907) argued for recognition of a southern variety ( Fagus grandifolia var. caroliniana ) of this somewhat variable species. The northern populations in general are characterized by cupules with denser, longer prickles, somewhat narrower leaves with a greater proportion of cuneate leaf bases, and larger fruits that exceed the cupules slightly. Others (e.g., W. H. Camp 1951) have suggested the existence of three races within United States F . grandifolia , often referred to as gray beech, red beech, and white beech. I follow J. W. Hardin and G. P. Johnson (1985) and others in not recognizing subspecific or varietal variation within eastern United States F . grandifolia . Examination of material over the geographic range of the species suggests that this variation is broadly clinal and can only be demonstrated statistically, with much variation indicative of the other races within most populations. It seems a matter of taste as to whether such variation be recognized with infraspecific names. In addition, forms with more densely pubescent leaves occur locally in both the north and south; they have been formally recognized by some authors. Clearly, additional taxonomic work on variation in F . grandifolia is desirable; it is possible that other characters that could adequately delimit subgeneric/varietal taxa might yet be identified. 

 Fagus sylvatica Linnaeus, the European Beech, is cultivated in temperate eastern North America and to a lesser extent in western United States and Canada. Escapes are to be expected. Various cultivars are known, particularly purple-leaf, tricolor-leaf, and cut-leaf forms. When encountered, F . s ylvatica is easily distinguished from F . grandifolia by the crenate leaf margin (without distinct teeth) and the softer, less stout, less reflexed spines of the cupule of F . sylvatica .

Native Americans used various preparations from plants of Fagus sylvatica medicinally for worms, consumption, chancre, and heart trouble, to purify the blood, as a poultice for burns and scalds, and as a wash for poison ivy (D. E. Moerman 1986).

Key plant community associations 13

More info for the term: codominant

American beech is either a dominant or codominant species in the
northern hardwoods of the Northeast, Lake States, and the Appalachian
Mountains. Common associates include sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red
maple (A. rubrum), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis), American
basswood (Tilia americana), black cherry (Prunus serotina), southern
magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), red
spruce (Picea rubens), hickories (Carya spp.), and oaks (Quercus spp.)
[3,41].

Published classification schemes listing American beech as dominant or
codominant in habitat types (hts) are listed below:

Area Classification Authority

n MI, ne WI forest hts Coffman, Alyanak &
Rosovosky 1980
n WI forest hts Kotar & others 1989
n WI, n MI forest hts Kotar 1986

Seedling development 14

Beech seeds germinate from early  spring to early summer. Germination is epigeous and chilling is  required to break dormancy. On either mineral soil or leaf  litter, germination is good, but on excessively wet sites it is  poor. Both germination and survival tend to be better on mor  humus than on mull humus soil (39,40).

    Beech seedlings develop better under a moderate canopy or in  protected small openings than they do on larger open areas where  the surface soil may dry out below the depth of the shallow  roots. Height growth of seedlings is about the same in dense (87  percent) or moderate (55 percent) shade, but total dry weight and  root development are greatest under moderate shade. Height  growth, dry weight, and root development in the open are less  than in shade (25). Seedlings are found in large numbers beneath  even the densest stands, but under such conditions their growth  is slow. Beech reproduction can start under, and come through,  fern and raspberry cover.

    Dormancy of beech seedlings can be broken in spring and growth can  be prolonged in fall by supplemental light. Decreasing day length  plays the major role in inducing dormancy in the fall, but day  length may be secondary to temperature in controlling resumption  of growth in the spring. That is, day length probably becomes  adequate for growth to resume in the spring before temperatures  are high enough for growth to occur. Temperature, therefore,  exerts the final control over growth resumption.

    Beech continues growing all winter in a greenhouse when daylight  is supplemented by continuous artificial light.

    The height of beech seedlings growing in the intense competition  of a virgin hemlock-hardwood stand in northern Pennsylvania (39)  was as follows:

   

    Age  Total  height        (yr)  (m)  (ft)    6  0.3  1    10  0.6  2    14  0.9  3    17  1.2  4    18  1.4  4.5    20  1.5  5    22  1.8  6    25  2.1  7       

    When forest stands are heavily cut, beech reproduction tends to  grow more slowly than that of most associated hardwood species.  This is especially true in clearcuttings. Here the beech  reproduction may be overtopped by less tolerant species, such as  the birches and white ash (Fraxinus americana), that  respond vigorously to increased light. A number of studies have  shown that heavy cutting or clearcutting results in fewer beech  in the new stand than in the old (39). Repeated clearcutting on  short rotations may nearly eliminate beech. Under partial  cuttings, especially single-tree selection cuttings, intolerant  species offer little competition and the tolerant beech  reproduction is able to develop. The beech may be further favored  by its virtual immunity to deer browsing.

Soils and topography 15

Beech is found generally within two principal soil groups: the  gray-brown podzolic (Hapludalf) and the laterite (Acrorthox) and  is prevalent on podzols; it is seldom found on limestone soils  except at the western edge of its range. These soils are  contained in the orders Alfisols, Oxisols, and Spodosols. Soils  of loamy texture and those with a high humus content are more  favorable than lighter soils (39). The largest trees are found in  the alluvial bottom lands of the Ohio and the lower Mississippi  River valleys, and along the western slopes of the southern  Appalachian Mountains.

    Beech populations frequently are higher on coarse-textured,  dry-mesic soils in the northern part of its range (38). In  Indiana, beech is more sensitive to reduced soil moisture than is  white oak (Quercus alba), sugar maple (Acer  saccharum), American elm (Ulmus americana), and  slippery elm (U. rubra). It will grow on poorly drained  sites not subjected to prolonged flooding and may grow where the  water table is within 15 cm to 25 cm (6 to 10 in) of the surface.  It is markedly less tolerant of such conditions than are red  maple (Acer rubrum) and sweetgum (Liquidambar  styraciflua). Beech trees on poorly drained sites have  shallower root systems than those on better drained sites (39).  'Ember stands containing considerable numbers of beech are found  on soils ranging from pH 4.1 to 6.0 (39), but seldom where pH  exceeds 7.0.

    Beech is found at low elevations in the North and relatively high  elevations in the southern Appalachians. Local soil and climatic  factors probably determine whether beech grows at the higher  elevations. In the Adirondacks of New York, low temperatures and  wind keep beech below 980 m (3,200 ft), in contrast to the  southern mountains where on the warmer slopes it grows at  elevations up to 1830 m (6,000 ft). At latitudes in the middle of  its range, however, beech is more abundant on the cooler and  moister northern slopes than on the southern slopes (39).

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) copepodo, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by copepodo, http://www.flickr.com/photos/63661371@N00/2925868680
  2. (c) Dendroica cerulea, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dendroica/8378237512/
  3. (c) Suzanne Cadwell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/scadwell/13799590153/
  4. (c) Suzanne Cadwell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/scadwell/13799930264/
  5. (c) "<a href=""http://www.knps.org"">Kentucky Native Plant Society</a>. Scanned by <a href=""http://www.omnitekinc.com/"">Omnitek Inc</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=fagr_001_avd.tif
  6. (c) "<a href=""http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/WLI/"">USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=fagr_003_avp.tif
  7. (c) "<a href=""http://www.wpsm.net/"">USDA Forest Service</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=fagr_004_ahd.tif
  8. Adapted by Jonathan (JC) Carpenter from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagus_grandifolia
  9. (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778516
  10. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24253164
  11. (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778514
  12. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/19823792
  13. Public Domain, http://eol.org/data_objects/24641227
  14. (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778519
  15. (c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/22778515

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