Nov

Fagus sylvatica – November 25th 2024 – Beech

Fagus sylvatica is a handsome broadleaved tree, often planted in parks and large estates as an ornamental – or to form a hedge in suburban housing schemes – or to produce valuable timber – or to make shelterbelts to protect livestock and crops on upland farms. The largest specimens found in Scotland are 300 years old, 30-40 metres tall with a single trunk and a dense canopy. The bark is pale grey (perhaps tinged green by epiphytic algae) and rather smooth. Some people say it resembles elephant’s skin. Lovers like carving their initials on the trunk.

Grove of old beech trees at Tyninghame in East Lothian. Image: Chris Jeffree.

Over 300 species of fungi are associated with Beech, and at least 23 insect species feed in its canopy. The young leaves of Beech are among the most beautiful – a shimmering green not matched by any other. Its autumn colours are often well developed, and the rustling caused by dragging one’s feet through a bed of fallen beech leaves is another of nature’s great pleasures.

Beech seedlings, each with a pair of large photosynthetic cotyledons. Image: Chris Jeffree.

Julius Caesar’s written account of Britain (55-54 BC) reported that no Fagus trees were present. Scholars say he was no botanist and that he confused Fagus with Sweet Chestnut. The scientific evidence from pollen and charcoal shows that F. sylvatica arrived well before Caesar: it was in the SE corner of Britain in the early Bronze Age, about 3000 years ago, and spread north as far as Yorkshire at a rate of 100-200 metres per year (Birks 1989). It was one of the last trees to arrive from the continent following the retreat of ice some 12,000 years ago. Rising sea-level cut Britain off from further plant migrations. Beech came without human assistance and therefore is deemed to be a native tree. However, it advanced only as far as the north of England and so it is an alien in Scotland. Research at the University of Stirling (Sjölund et al. 2017) shows present-day Scottish Beech trees to be descended from those in England, but most likely the seeds were brought here by the Scottish lairds, given to them by their English friends and relatives.

The fruit is a 3-angled nut (12–18 mm long). Several are enclosed inside a cupule. Empty cupules are often seen on the woodland floor. Images: Chris Jeffree.

Beech woodlands are well-developed in several parts of Britain. In England the most famous are on chalky soils: in south-east England (‘the Weald’), the Chilterns in the Thames Valley and on the Jurassic limestones of the Cotswolds and southeastern parts of Wales. Scotland has few soils to match those of southern England, and Beech may have been scarce north of the border until the 18^th century. After the Act of Union with England in 1707, dukes, earls, and lairds tried to improve the conditions for agriculture in Scotland and many planted trees for shelter. They founded The Society of Improvers in 1723. For example: on North Berwick Law, in East Lothian, Sir Hew Dalrymple planted beech trees to celebrate the Union with England. They withstood the harsh conditions and I believe a few are still there.

Cigar-shaped winter buds and newly emerged leaves. Images: Chris Jeffree.

Beech trees grow well in Scotland, on a variety of soil types, and they are often a component of planted deciduous woodlands, although the Scottish native trees (birch, oak and rowan) are preferred nowadays. There are some fine examples of Beech in Scotland. At Meikleour in Perthshire there is remarkable beech hedge planted in 1745; at 30 metres tall it is the holder of the world record for the tallest hedge in the world (Guiness book of Records). It is said the hedge grows towards the heavens because the men who planted it were killed at the Battle of Culloden. Many large estates have good examples of free-standing beech trees – a few locations are here.

Primeval beech woodlands still exist in central Europe; they are found in 18 countries and are protected under UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention. In Britain we have no comparable woodlands – our beechwoods are managed even-aged plantations.

F. sylvatica is well within its climatic limits in Britain but it could nevertheless be adversely affected by climate change. Warming is likely to increase the growth rate, but drought to decrease it. The roots are shallow, and old trees may be blown down in violent storms.

Beech hedge at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, mid-November 2024. This famous hedge is 8 metres tall and over 500 metres long. Note that beech is deciduous but when trimmed to make a hedge the dead leaves often remain attached for all or much of the winter, making the tree especially useful as a hedge. Image: John Grace.

Beech woodlands have a very dense leaf canopy. The Leaf Area Index can be as much as 7 (meaning that one square metre of forest floor has seven square metres of leaves above it). Very little light penetrates the canopy and so the ground flora consists of species that form leaves and flowers in the spring, before the woodland canopy canopy has formed (bluebells, primroses, wild garlic, dog’s mercury and many others).

The roots of Beech are colonised by mycorrhizal fungi in a symbiotic relationship. The fungi most often associated with Beech are those of the genera Russula and Lactarius. Beech mycorrizae were first investigated by J.L. Harley at the Universities of Oxford and Sheffield; they have remained the model system of researchers ever since. It is easy to find the mycorrhizal roots, they are just below the surface and may be dug up with a hand-trowel.

Beechwood interior, Humbie. Note thick layer of beech litter. Image: Chris Jeffree.

As for many tree species, fruiting is highly irregular from year to year, some years producing a huge crop and others almost nothing. The fruits of the Beech are beechnuts (collectively called ‘mast’). The evolutionary explanation of this irregularity is that it represents a strategy to overcome predation of the nuts by various hungry mammalian foragers, including squirrels and birds. In a ‘mast year’ there are so many nuts that the foragers are satiated. They can’t possibly eat all the nuts and therefore some survive to germinate and form a new generation of trees. In a lean year the foragers must go hungry and may die, reducing the population.

Beech galls caused by the mite Aceria nervisequa. These galls may start white, gradually darkening. More information here. Image: Chris Jeffree.

Hilton and Packham (2003) drew together all available data and tried to identify climatic controls of masting over a period of 200 years. They gathered data from several regions of Europe, to see if there was any synchrony in masting behaviour. There was. An abundant crop of nuts tended to be produced when the previous June and July had been unusually warm (in these months the next year’s leaves and flowers are initiated). But there must be no frosts in April and May of the masting year, as male and female flowers are killed by such low temperatures.

Spalted beech. Spalting is caused by fungi or bacteria which infect live or (usually) dead wood. Such wood is sought by woodworkers for making fancy bowls or small furniture. Image: Chris Jeffree.

Beechnuts are edible but bitter-tasting and poisonous if eaten in large quantities. However, pigs are happy to eat them, and with no ill-effect. Pig-keepers in medieval times would fatten their pigs on fallen beechnuts and acorns in a process called pannage. In some areas of the country, pannage is still used, keeping up an age-old tradition.

Beech has served humans well. Its wood heavy but easily worked and therefore widely used in handicrafts, for furniture, kitchen implements, toys, musical instruments, flooring, crates, ironing boards, barrels, charcoal, firewood, pulp and paper-making. The famous ‘Windsor Chair’ is today factory-made from Beech. In former times, Beech was used for coach and shipbuilding and shotgun stocks. It isn’t as strong or durable as oak and ash, and it warps easily but it can be easily bent after steam-treating.

Global distribution of Fagus sylvatica according to GBIF. It’s a European native tree introduced into many temperate parts of the world where Europeans have settled.

I found an interesting youtube movie on the use of beechnuts in Transylvania (Romania) to make oil for cooking. It is said that 5 kg of nuts produces a litre of oil. The beechnuts are shaken from the trees and the oil is extracted by cold-pressing. This is traditional country craft, but now a commercial prospect.

References consulted

Birks HJB (1989) Holocene Isochrone Maps and Patterns of Tree-Spreading in the British Isles. Journal of Biogeography 16, 503-540. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2845208

Bontemps J-D et al. (2010) Dominant radial and height growth reveal comparable historical variations for common beech in north-eastern France. Forest Ecology and Management 259, 1455-1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2010.01.019

Brown JMB (1953) Studies on British Beechwoods. Forestry Commission Bulletin No. 20. HMSO.

Hilton GM and Packham JR (2003) Variation in the masting of common beech ( Fagus sylvatica L.) in northern Europe over two centuries (1800–2001) , Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, Volume 76, Issue 3, 2003, Pages 319–328, https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/76.3.319

Packham JR et al. (2008) The English beech masting survey 1980–2007: Variation in the fruiting of the common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and its effects on woodland ecosystems. Arboricultural Journal, 31, 189-214.

Packham JR et al. (2012). Biological Flora of the British Isles: Fagus sylvatica Journal of Ecology 100, 1557-1608.

Rackham O (2015) Woodlands. Collins.

Sjölund MJ (2017) Understanding the legacy of widespread population translocations on the post-glacial genetic structure of the European beech, Fagus sylvatica L. Journal of Biogeography 44, 2475-2487.

Tansley AG (1968) Britain’s Green Mantle, 2^nd Edition. Allen and Unwin.

Watt AS (1931) Preliminary Observations on Scottish Beechwoods. Introduction and Part I. Journal of Ecology 19, 137-157.