Beeches are large imposing deciduous trees with a broad rounded crown.
Their bark is smooth and grey but occasionally becomes rougher.
It produces reddish brown buds which are smooth and pointed and grown up to 2cm long.
Its leaves are long, oval shaped and pointed with a wavy margin. They also have a fringe of silky hairs when freshly opened.
Its male flowers grow in clusters at the tips of it's twigs. Female flowers grow in pairs on short stalks and are surrounded by a brownish 4 leaved enclosure.
Nuts also grow in pairs. They are 3 sided, shiny and brown and are enclosed in a prickly case.
Beeches originate in Western and central Europe. They are used widely for hedgerows and also for ornamental purposes.
Beeches prefer drier soils like chalk soils. Which comes as no surprise as it originated in Western Europe where soil tends to be much drier than in Britain.
Its timber is widely used but mostly for furniture as it does not last well outside.
It's canopy is so dense that hardly anything grows beneath it and no other trees can compete. Only some plants manage to grow beneath beech trees, like Orchids which can survive in more dimly lit conditions.
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