Beech

What is a Beech	A beech is a type of tree known for its smooth gray bark and beautiful leaves.
Where do Beech trees grow	Beech trees grow in many parts of the world, especially in temperate forests.
Fun Fact	Beech wood is very strong and is often used to make furniture and tools.

Beech (genus Fagus) is a group of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, found in subtropical and temperate regions of Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species, divided into two subgenera. The subgenus Englerianae grows only in East Asia and has low branches and yellowish bark. The other subgenus, Fagus, includes species found in Europe, western and eastern Asia, and eastern North America.

The European beech Fagus sylvatica is the most commonly grown species. It has many decorative varieties and provides valuable timber used for furniture, flooring, construction, plywood, and household items. Beechwood also makes great firewood.

Beech wood has many other uses. Thin pieces of washed beech wood line the bottom of tanks used to make some kinds of beer. Beech logs are burned to dry the malt used in certain German smoked beers. Beech is also used to add a smoky flavor to Westphalian ham, andouille sausage, and some cheeses.

Description

Beeches are special trees that grow both male and female flowers on the same plant. The flowers are small, with the female ones growing in pairs and the male ones helping to spread pollen by wind. After flowering, the tree produces a unique nut that has three sides and grows inside a spiky shell.

These trees also have smooth bark and leaves that fall off in the autumn. Each leaf has a central vein with smaller veins running alongside it, ending in a small tooth along the edge of the leaf.

Evolution

See also: List of fossil beech species

Fagus sylvatica pliocenica, Piacenzian, 3.6 to 2.6 mya

Beeches have a long history going back to around 81–82 million years ago, with the oldest fossils found in what is now Wyoming, United States. These trees evolved early in the Fagaceae family, which also includes oaks and chestnuts. Over time, beeches spread across the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Asia.

Today, there are 14 known species of beech trees, split into two groups. One group, found only in East Asia, has trees with low branches and yellowish bark. The other group includes taller trees with smooth, silver-grey bark and is found in places like Eastern North America and Western Eurasia. These trees have unique genetic traits that help scientists tell them apart.

Name	Subgenus	Status, systematic affinity	Distribution	Accepted in POWO, Sept. 2025
Fagus caspica Denk & G.W.Grimm – Caspian beech	Fagus	New species described in 2024; first-diverging lineage within the Western Eurasian group	Talysch and Elburz Mountains, southeastern Azerbaijan and northern Iran	No mention
Fagus chienii W.C.Cheng	Fagus	Possibly conspecific with F. lucida	Probably extinct, described from a single location in China (Sichuan). Individuals collected there were morphologically and genetically indistinguishable from F. pashanica.	Yes
Fagus crenata Blume – Siebold's beech or Japanese beech	Fagus	Widespread species; complex history connecting it to both the Western Eurasian group and the other East Asian species of subgenus Fagus	Japan; in the mountains of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu, down to sea-level in southern Hokkaido.	Yes
Fagus engleriana Seemen ex Diels – Chinese beech	Englerianae	Widespread species; continental sister species of F. japonica	China; south of the Yellow River	Yes
Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. – American beech	Fagus	Widespread species; sister species of F. mexicana	Eastern North America; from E. Texas and N. Florida, United States, to the St. Lawrence River, Canada at low to mid altitudes	Yes
Fagus hayatae Palib. ex Hayata	Fagus	Narrow endemic species; forming a cryptic sister species pair with F. pashanica	Taiwan; restricted to the mountains of northern Taiwan	Yes
Fagus hohenackeriana Palib. – Caucasian or Hohenacker's beech	Fagus	Dominant tree species of the Pontic and Caucasus Mountains; intermediate between F. caspica and F. orientalis. Its genetic heterogeneity may be indicative for ongoing speciation processes.	Northeastern Anatolia (Pontic Mountains, Kaçkar Mountains) and Caucasus region (Lesser and Greater Caucasus, Georgia, Armenia, Ciscaucasia; down to sea-level in southwestern Georgia)	Yes
Fagus japonica Maxim.File:Fagus mexicana, Zacualtipán de Ángeles, Hidalgo, Mexico 5737290.jpg	Englerianae	Widespread species; insular sister species of F. engleriana	Japan; Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu from sea-level up to c. 1500 m a.s.l.	Yes
Fagus longipetiolata Seemen	Fagus	Sym- to parapatric with F. lucida and F. pashanica, and sharing alleles with both species in addition to alleles indicating a sister relationship with the Japanese F. crenata.	China, south of the Yellow River, into N. Vietnam; in montane areas up to 2400 m a.s.l.	Replaced by F. sinensis
Fagus lucida Rehder & E.H.Wilson	Fagus	Rare species; closest relatives are F. crenata and F. longipetiolata	China; south of the Yellow River in montane areas between 800 and 2000 m a.s.l.	Yes
Fagus mexicana Martínez	Fagus	Narrow endemic sister species of F. grandifolia. F. mexicana differs from F. grandifolia by its slender leaves and less-evolved but more polymorphic set of alleles (higher level of heterozygosity)	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.	Yes
Fagus multinervis Nakai	Englerianae	Narrow endemic species, first diverging lineage within subgenus Englerianae	South Korea (Ulleungdo)	Yes
Fagus orientalis Lipsky – Oriental beech (in a narrow sense)	Fagus	Sister species of F. sylvatica	Southeastern Europe (SE Bulgaria, NE Greece, East Thrace (European Turkey) and adjacent northwestern Asia (NW and N Anatolia)	Yes
Fagus pashanica C.C.Yang	Fagus	Continental sister species of F. hayatae, with a set of alleles that puts it closer to F. longipetiolata and F. crenata than its insular sister.	China (Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang), at 1300–2300 m a.s.l.(eFlora of China, as F. hayatae)	Yes
Fagus sinensis Oliv.	Fagus	Invalid; the original material included material from two much different species: F. engleriana and F. longipetiolata	China (Hubei), Vietnam	Yes, erroneously used as older synonym of F. longipetiolata
Fagus sylvatica L. – European beech	Fagus	Sister species of and closely related to F. orientalis	Europe	Yes

Name	Parentage	Status	Distribution
Fagus (×) moesiaca (K. Malý) Czeczott	F. sylvatica × F. orientalis	No evidence so far for hybrid origin. All individuals addressed as F. moesiaca included in genetic studies fell within the variation of F. sylvatica. They may represent a lowland ecotype of F. sylvatica.	Southeastern Balkans
Fagus × taurica Popl. – Crimean beech	F. sylvatica × F. orientalis s.l.	Hybrid status not yet tested by genetic data; according to isoenzyme profiles a less-evolved, relict population of F. sylvatica or intermediate between F. sylvatica and the species complex historically addressed as Oriental beech (F. orientalis in a broad sense)	Crimean peninsula

Ecology

Beech trees need deep, well-drained soil that is neutral or slightly acidic, with a pH between 6 and 7.5. They don't grow well in waterlogged areas but can survive in windy or shady places, even in cold climates. In northern Europe, beech trees grow in lowlands, while further south they grow in mountainous areas up to 1,800 meters high.

In Britain, beech trees arrived after the last ice age and might have been planted by ancient people for their edible nuts. In North America, beech often grows together with sugar maple trees in special forests called beech-maple forests. However, beech trees can face problems from pests like the beech blight aphid and diseases such as beech bark disease and beech leaf disease, which can harm or even kill the trees.

Uses

Furniture and construction

European beech trees, specifically Fagus sylvatica, produce strong wood that weighs about 720 kg per cubic meter. This wood is commonly used to make furniture, floors, plywood, and household items. It is also used in building chalets, houses, and log cabins.

Ornamental tree

The European beech is grown as an ornamental tree in many places with the right climate, such as North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. There are many different types of beech trees, like the weeping beech and the copper beech. One famous beech hedge is in Scotland, which is the tallest and longest in the world.

Food and food preparation

The fruit of the beech tree, called beech mast, is edible and was used as food by ancient people. It can also be roasted and ground to make a coffee-like drink. Beech wood is used in making beer, drying malt for smoked beers, and smoking foods like ham, sausage, and cheese.

Other

Beech bark was used in the past as a writing material. Beech wood was used to make soot for a brown paint called bistre. Beech wood has also been used for making drums, firewood, and a material called modal, which is a type of rayon.