Beech (genusFagus) is agenus ofdeciduous trees in the familyFagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element ofmesophytic forests)Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species in two distinct subgenera,EnglerianaeDenk & G.W.Grimm andFagus.[1] The subgenusEnglerianae is found only in East Asia, distinctive for its low branches, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. The better known species of subgenusFagus are native to Europe, western and eastern Asia and eastern North America.
The European beechFagus sylvatica is the most commonly cultivated species, with several ornamental varieties, and forest trees yielding a timber used for furniture, flooring and construction, plywood, and household items. The timber can be used to build homes. Beechwood makes excellentfirewood. Slats of washed beech wood are spread around the bottom of fermentation tanks for some beers. Beech logs are burned to dry themalt used in some Germansmoked beers. Beech is also used to smokeWestphalian ham,andouille sausage, and some cheeses.
Beeches aremonoecious, bearing both male and female flowers on the same plant. The small flowers are unisexual, the female flowers borne in pairs, the male flowers wind-pollinatingcatkins. The fruit is a three-anglednut, with two in a spinydehiscent cupule. The bark is smooth. The leaves have a central vein with side-veins parallel to each other and ending in a tooth on the thin leaf-blade. The tree isdeciduous, dropping its leaves in autumn.[2]
The first representatives of the modern-day genus were likely already present in thePaleocene ofArctic North America (westernGreenland[4]) and quickly radiated across the high latitudes of theNorthern Hemisphere, with a firstdiversity peak in theMiocene of northeastern Asia.[7][8] The contemporary species are the product of past, repeatedreticulate evolutionary processes (outbreeding,introgression,hybridization).[9] As far as studied, heterozygosity and intragenomic variation are common in beech species,[9][10][11] and their chloroplast genomes are nonspecific with the exception of the Western Eurasian and North American species.[1]
A cladogram of 11 extant beech species is shown below. The subgeneraEngleriana andFagus diverged from each other in theEarly Oligocene era, 32.1 to 33.4 million years ago.[12]
The most recent classification system of the genus recognizes 14 species in two distinct subgenera, subgenusEnglerianae andFagus.[1] Beech species can be diagnosed byphenotypical and/orgenotypical traits. Species of subgenusEngleriana are found only in East Asia, and are notably distinct from species of subgenusFagus in that these beeches are low-branching trees, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark and a substantially differentnucleome (nuclear DNA), especially in noncoding, highly variable gene regions such as thespacers of the nuclear-encodedribosomal RNA genes (ribosomal DNA).[9][10] Further differentiating characteristics include the whitish bloom on the underside of the leaves, the visible tertiary leaf veins, and a long, smoothcupule-peduncle. Originally proposed but not formalized by botanist Chung-Fu Shen in 1992, this group comprised two Japanese species,F. japonica andF. okamotoi, and one Chinese species,F. engleriana.[13] While the status ofF. okamotoi remains uncertain, the most recent systematic treatment based on morphological and genetic data confirmed a third species,F. multinervis, endemic toUlleungdo, a South Korean island in theSea of Japan.[1] The beeches of Ulleungdo have been traditionally treated as a subspecies ofF. engleriana, to which they are phenotypically identical,[13][14] or as a variety ofF. japonica.[15] The differ from their siblings by their uniquenuclear andplastid genotypes.[1][11][9]
Probably extinct, described from a single location in China (Sichuan). Individuals collected there were morphologically and genetically indistinguishable fromF. pashanica.[17]
Dominant tree species of the Pontic andCaucasus Mountains; intermediate betweenF. caspica andF. orientalis.[18][19][20] Its genetic heterogeneity[1][21] may be indicative for ongoing speciation processes.
Sym- toparapatric withF. lucida andF. pashanica, and sharing alleles with both species in addition to alleles indicating a sister relationship with the JapaneseF. crenata.[9][11]
China, south of the Yellow River, into N. Vietnam; in montane areas up to 2400 m a.s.l.[22]
China; south of the Yellow River in montane areas between 800 and 2000 m a.s.l.[23]
Yes
Fagus mexicanaMartínez
Fagus
Narrow endemic sister species ofF. grandifolia. F. mexicana differs fromF. grandifolia by its slender leaves and less-evolved but more polymorphic set of alleles (higher level ofheterozygosity)[9][11]
Hidalgo, Mexico; at 1400–2000 m a.s.l. as an element of the subtropical montane mesophilic forest (bosque mesófilo de montaña) superimposing the tropical lowland rainforests.
No evidence so far for hybrid origin. All individuals addressed asF. moesiaca included in genetic studies fell within the variation ofF. sylvatica.[10][25] They may represent a lowland ecotype ofF. sylvatica.[1][26]
Hybrid status not yet tested by genetic data; according toisoenzyme profiles a less-evolved, relict population ofF. sylvatica or intermediate betweenF. sylvatica and the species complex historically addressed as Oriental beech (F. orientalis in a broad sense)[18]
The name of the tree in Latin,fagus (whence thegeneric epithet), is cognate with English "beech" and ofIndo-European origin. It played a role in early debates on the geographical origins of theIndo-European people, thebeech argument.Greek φηγός (figós) is from the same root, but the word was transferred to the oak tree (e.g.Iliad 16.767) as a result of the absence of beech trees in southern Greece.[27]
The common name of "beech" is from the Anglo-Saxonboc,bece orbeoce, the Germanbuche, the Swedishbox - all meaning "book" as well as beech and derived from theSanskritboko or letter andbokos or writings. This connection to "beech" seems to have derived from the fact that the oldRunic tablets were of beech wood.[28]
Beech requires a deep soil with good drainage and a neutral or slightly acidic soil,pH 6 to 7.5. It is vulnerable to drought as its root system is relatively shallow. It does not live in waterlogged areas, but it can grow in windy places, shade from other trees, and cold. In northern Europe it is a lowland species, while further south it ismontane, growing at an altitude of up to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft).[29]
TheEnglish Lowlands beech forests is anecoregion of high-canopy forest dominated by European beech in southeastern England, surviving as remnants such as the 150 square miles (390 km2)New Forest.[30] The species arrived in Britain after the last glaciation, and may have been restricted to basic soils in the south of England. It could have been introduced by Neolithic tribes who planted the trees for their edible nuts.[31] In southeast Wales, theCwm Clydach National Nature Reserve holds beech woodlands on the western edge of their natural range in a steep limestone gorge.[32]Theprimeval beech forests of the Carpathians have been dominated since the last ice age by the beech.[33]In North America, beech can formBeech-maple forest, seen by some ecologists as aclimax community, by partnering with thesugar maple.[34]
The European beechFagus sylvatica yields a tough timber. It weighs about 720 kg per cubic metre and is widely used forfurniture construction, flooring, plywood, and household items. The timber can be used to build chalets, houses, and log cabins.[39]
English carved andjapanned beechwood chair, c. 1675
French desk chair, beechwood with leatherupholstery, c. 1740–50
The European beech,Fagus sylvatica, is widely cultivated in most regions that have a suitable climate, including North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.[40] Many varieties are in cultivation, including the weeping beechF. sylvatica 'Pendula', several varieties of copper or purple beech, the fern-leaved beechF. sylvatica 'Asplenifolia',[41] and the tricolour beechF. sylvatica 'Roseomarginata'.[42] The columnar Dawyck beech (F. sylvatica 'Dawyck') is named afterDawyck Botanic Garden in the Scottish Borders.[43]
The fruit of the beech tree is an edible nut, known as beech mast.[45][46] According to the Roman statesmanPliny the Elder in hisNatural History, the fruit: "of the beech is the sweetest of all; so much so, that, according to Cornelius Alexander, the people of the city ofChios, when besieged, supported themselves wholly on mast".[47] They can also be roasted and pulverized into acoffee substitute.[48]
Slats of beech wood, its flavour removed with caustic soda, are spread inside fermentation tanks for beers such asBudweiser to prevent the yeast from piling up on the bottom and possibly spoiling the beer's flavour.[49] Beech logs are burned to dry themalt used in Germansmoked beers.[50] Beech is also used to smokeWestphalian ham,[51] traditionalandouille (an offal sausage) fromNormandy,[52] and somesmoked cheeses.[53]
PaintingVenus with a Mirror. Oil and plaster on beech wood.Titian, 1511
In antiquity,Indo-European people used beech bark as a writing material, especially in a religious context.[54] Beech wood tablets were a commonwriting material in Germanic societies before the development of paper. The Old Englishbōc[55] has the primary sense of "beech" with a secondary sense of "book".[56]
^Little, Elbert L. (1994) [1980].The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf. p. 390.ISBN0-394-50761-4.
^Lyle, Katie Letcher (2010) [2004].The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them (2nd ed.). Guilford, CN:FalconGuides. p. 138.ISBN978-1-59921-887-8.OCLC560560606.
^"Der Brauprozeß von Schlenkerla Rauchbier" [The Brewing Process of Schlenkerla Smoked Beer].Schlenkerla - die historische Rauchbierbrauerei (in German). Schlenkerla. 2011. Retrieved11 December 2020.
^fabricstockexchange.com,ModalArchived 2011-09-25 at theWayback Machine (dictionary entry), retrieved 9 October 2011
^Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001).Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Paris: Editions Errance.ISBN2-87772-200-7.
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