Beech
Featured in: Year 1: Plants
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Beech
Tree
A tall, graceful tree with smooth, grey bark.
How to identify:
Look for its smooth, grey bark (which looks a bit like an elephant's leg), its oval leaves with wavy edges, and its prickly, four-lobed seed cases.
💡 Fun Facts
- Beech woodland has a very dense canopy of leaves in summer, which means the woodland floor is often very dark.
- The nuts inside the seed cases are edible and are sometimes called 'beechmast'.
- Beech trees keep their dead, copper-coloured leaves on their branches all through the winter, only losing them when the new leaves grow.
📅 Through the Year
- Leaf-out:April to May
- Flowering:April to May
- Fruiting:September to October
- Leaf fall:October to November
Name Story
Fagus sylvatica
means “the beech of the woods”
What does its name mean?
- Fagus — beech treeLatin, from Greek phēgos — an old name tied to trees that drop edible nuts
- sylvatica — of the woods, growing wild in woodlandLatin silva, 'wood, forest'Decode this word →
Beech means simply 'the beech of the woods' — and that is exactly where it grows, often forming cool, shady woods on chalky hills.