beech

beech

1. any N temperate tree of the genus Fagus, esp F. sylvatica of Europe, having smooth greyish bark: family Fagaceae

2. any tree of the related genus Nothofagus, of temperate Australasia and South America

3. the hard wood of any of these trees, used in making furniture, etc

4. See copper beech

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

beech

beech

Tree grows to 100 ft. (doesn’t even start producing seeds till they are 50 years old) Gray bark with edible triangular nuts which are used to expel worms. Bark used for lung problems and leaves used as external wash for skin problems like poison ivy, diaper rash or burns. Young leaves are edible. The sweet seeds (remove brown covering) are totally edible and can be crushed into a butter, or mixed with liquid, added to flour or berries. Don’t eat too many raw nuts.

Edible Plant Guide © 2012 Markus Rothkranz

beech

[bēch]

(botany)

Any of various deciduous trees of the genus Fagus in the beech family (Fagaceae) characterized by smooth gray bark, triangular nuts enclosed in burs, and hard wood with a fine grain.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

beech, beechwood

A moderately high-density, fine-grained, durable, strong hardwood of North America and Europe. Whitish to light red-brown in color; used for small wood-turned parts and flooring.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Beech

 

(Fagus), a genus of monoecious plants of the family Fagaceae. Beech trees are up to 50 m in height and 2 m in diameter, with smooth, gray bark. There are ten species in the extratropical regions of the northern hemisphere; in the USSR there are three species. The leaves are deciduous, simple, usually entire, and often have hairs along the edges. Beeches blossom simultaneously with the unfolding of the leaves and are pollinated by the wind. Fruitbearing begins in 20-40 years in single-standing specimens and in 60 years or more in dense stands. The acorn-like fruits (so-called nuts) have a woody jacket and are gathered in groups of two to four in a four-lobed cupule located on a peduncle. On the outside the cupule is covered with needle-like or other types of processes; by the time the fruit ripens the cupule expands and becomes woody. Beeches are shade-tolerant, but heat-loving. In the mountains they grow at altitudes up to 2,300 m. Many beeches are valuable forest-forming and mountain-protecting species. They form pure or mixed forests and live to 400 years or more.

Beech wood is dense, heavy, and takes a high polish; it decays quickly in the open air, but in water and in moist conditions it is very durable. It is used for manufacturing musical instruments, veneers, parquet, curved furniture, methyl alcohol, and so on. The fruit contains a poisonous alkaloid, fagine, which quickly decomposes when heated; salad and industrial oils are prepared from the fruit. The oil cake is used to feed swine. Antarctic beeches belong to the genus Nothofagus.

REFERENCE

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1951.

A. P. SHIMANIUK

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.