Fagus grandifolia

Fagaceae, Beech Family

DUARB-107

• Location: Left of main walk leading to South Quad
• Height: 28.2m
• Circumference: 2.5m
• Recognition Features: Leaves simple, 2° veins parallel.  Bark smooth, steel-gray. Winter buds long-pointed
• Life History Notes: This tree tends to grow in good farming soil.  Many were cut by farmers to clear the way for crops (Peattie 1964).  Often, people find the bark quite useful for script.  Many have carved their initials or short messages on the bark.  It is thought that the word book was derived from an early name for beech.  Book comes from the Anglo-Saxon word boc , which means letter or character.  This comes from the Anglo-Saxon word beece, for beech.  The wood is used to make flooring, veneer, furniture, plywood, railroad ties, and fuel wood.  Creosote made from beech wood is used as a medicine for many ailments, and the nuts were chewed as a worm expellent by Native Americans (Peattie 1964).