Figure 1.–The Range Of American Beech.
F-506591Figure 1.–The range of American Beech.
AMERICAN BEECH(Fagus grandifolia)Roswell D. Carpenter 1DISTRIBUTIONBeech grows in the southeastern provinces ofCanada and in the eastern half of the United States,where its range extends southward from Maine tonorthern Florida and westward from the AtlanticCoast to Wisconsin, Missouri, and east Texas (fig. 1).Except for some Mexican distribution, beech is nowconfined to the Eastern United States and southeastern Canada, though it once extended as far west asCalifornia and probably flourished over most ofNorth America before the glacial period.Beech usually grows in mixture with other species,although some fairly large pure stands occur in theAppalachian Mountains, especially in North Carolina.Some of its principal associates are sugar maple,yellow birch, American basswood, black cherry, eastern hemlock, eastern white pine, red spruce, sweetgum, southern magnolia, the ashes, several hickories,and oaks. Beech is listed in 16 cover types recognizedby The Society of American Foresters, and is namedas an important component of four.Beech grows best on deep, rich, well-drained, moistsoils, and on theose of a loamy texture; soils with ahigh humus content are more favorable than lighterones. The largest trees are found in the alluvial bot tom lands of the Ohio, Missouri and Red Rivers andalong the western slopes of the Appalachians.DESCRIPTION AND GROWTHMature beech trees are generally 80 to 120 feettall and 18 to 50 inches in diameter (at breastheight). Individual trees over 4 feet in diameter and120 feet tall have been recorded, but these trees fre quently are hollow at the butt. Attaining such sizetakes 350 to 400 years. At present, the largest beechtree standing is 18 feet 5 inches in circumference atbreast height and 91 feet high, and it has a 96-footcrown spread.The root system of beech is well developed but tends1 Forestproducts technologist, NortheasternStation, USDA Forest Service.Forestto be shallow where soil moisture and air humidityare ample. Roots spread strongly in the humus layerand also grow fairly deep into the mineral soil. Thespecies is comparatively windfirm, except possibly onshallow soils.Beech is regarded as the most tolerant hardwoodspecies in some parts of its range, but its toleranceis less on poor soils or in cold climates.Beech trees prune themselves nicely in well-stockedstands. With good stocking on favorable sites, a sub stantial number of them have narrow, compact crownswith long, clean, straight boles. Open-grown treesdevelop short, thick trunks with large, low, spreadinglimbs terminating in slender, somewhat droopingbranches, forming a broad, round-topped head.Beeeh trees often develop epicormic branches (grow ing from dormant buds) when injured or suddenlyexposed by cuttings in the stand, or following glazedamage or low temperature injury.At about 40 years of age, beech trees begin toproduce seed in the form of small nuts and yieldgood crops at 3, 4 or 5-year intervals. Rodents arechiefly responsible for seed distribution. Beech seedlings need warmth, shade, and humus for satisfactorygrowth, and are fairly hardy once they have gained astart.Beech sprouts well from the stumps of young trees,but this capacity diminishes markedly after the treesreach 4 inches in diameter. Sprouts from stumps 10to 15 inches in diameter are usually short-lived andrarely attain tree stature. Beech trees develop rootsuckers in large numbers, and many of these growinto pole-size timber, though few end up as mer chantable forest trees.Beech nuts are borne in an egg-shaped pricklyhusk, two or three to a husk. The edible nut is thinshelled and shining chestnut-brown, ½ to ¾ inchlong, and triangular in cross-section. The leaves are2½ to 6 inches long; 1 to 2½ inches wide; ellip tical to oblong ovate in shape; remotely serrate withsharp, incurved teeth along the margins; and shinyExperiment3COVER F-226617
surfaces above and below. The bark is thin, smooth,light bluish-gray, often mottled, and does not changeappreciably as the tree ages. (figs. 2 and 3).F317561Figure 2.–American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) bark. leaves,fruit.Thin bark and large surface roots make beech highlyvulnerable to fire and sunscald. Repeated fires canvirtually eliminate it.The growth characteristics and the tolerances ofbeech help explain its reaction to different cuttingpractices. Clearcutting usually results in fewer treesin the new stand than in the old. Repeated clearcuttingon short rotations, as was done in the acid wood in dustry, may cause beech to almost disappear becausein the open its seedlings, sprouts, and suckers are outgrown by the reproduction of almost all associatedspecies. Under light selection cuttings, the toleranceof beech enables it to increase in relative abundance.However, the high proportions of beech in manypresent stands result more from lack of managementthan from silvical characteristics—the beech was leftwhen more valuable species were cut.Beech endures widely varying climatic conditions,as evidenced by its range. Late spring frosts occasionally damage beech foliage. Low winter temperaturescause long frost cracks in the tree trunks. Extremelylow temperatures can cause more serious harm undercertain circumstances. Late spring frosts occasionallydamage beech foliage. Low winter temperatures causelong frost cracks in the tree trunks. Extremely lowtemperatures can cause more serious harm under cer tain circumstances.Beech is no more susceptible to breakage by glazestorms than most of its associated hardwood species.However, it is highly susceptible to several woodrotting fungi that find entrance through brokenbranch stubs and sunscald wounds. Wounds fromartificial pruning, logging injuries, or storm damageheal comparatively slowly.COMMON NAMESBeech is the name commonly used. “Americanbeech” is used to distinguish the tree from the Euro pean species. Trees with notably darker colored heartwood are called red beech in some localities, andthose with lighter heartwood or much sapwood arecalled white beech.RELATEDCOMMERCIAL SPECIESF490675Figure 3.–Fruit of the American Beech.4American beech (Fagus grandifolia) is the solerepresentative of the genus Fagus on the North Ameri can continent. The existence of “races” in beech hasbeen assumed occasionally, but without supportingevidence. These assumptions distinguish three racesor “variants” of beech in the United States, plus afourth in the mountains of Mexico. The three U.S.
races have been designated as gray, white, and redbeeches; and the Mexican race is said to be veryclose to our gray beech. The three races overlapgeographically.In addition to the species type, one variety is recog nized—Carolina beech (Fagus grandifolia var. Caro liniana) which is widely distributed in the SouthernStates, northward to New Jersey and Ohio, and rangesfrom bottomlands and swamp borders up to 4,000 feetelevation in the mountains. In the American marketthe mentioned races and variant are all sold as Ameri can beech.Early estimates of the supply of beech were basedmostly on reconnaissance-type observations and rep resent only part of the volume then actually standing.Since the initiation of the national forest survey, con ducted by the Forest Service, reliable reports of thesupply have been provided and are maintained pe riodically. These reports show that the supply wasunderestimated previously. Periodic State-by-statesurveys demonstrate that the beech supply has beenincreasing mainly through the accumulation andgrowth of low-quality and small trees.Estimates of beech sawtimber before the completionof the first forest survey in all of the States rangedfrom 4.1 billion to 8.5 billion board feet.The survey showed that in 1952 there were 15.8billion board feet of sawtimber-size beech trees in theeastern United States. Ten years later the volume hadincreased to 19.3 billion board feet. In addition, theforest survey reported about 43 million cords ofsmaller beech in 1962.Almost 56 percent of the beech timber resourcegrows in the 12 New England and Mid-Atlantic States.The four leading States, respectively, are New York,Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania—sup porting almost 51 percent of the volume. Vermont,Michigan, and Maine follow closely in that order.Beech sawtimber now constitutes about 4 percent ofall the hardwood sawtimber in the United States.PRODUCTIONBeech timber is cut into factory lumber logs, veneerlogs and bolts, railway tie logs, cooperage bolts,chemical wood (for charcoal and distillates), andpulpwood.By far the greatest proportion is cut for conversioninto lumber. The production of beech lumber wasfirst recorded and reported separately in 1905 whena total of 219 million board feet was sawed in 20states—with Michigan, Indiana, New York, and Ohiocontributing over 80 percent of the cut.By 1909, this total had risen to about 511.2 millionboard feet—the all-time high. After 1909, productiondeclined, reaching 42.3 million board feet in 1932—the all-time low. Pennsylvania led in production everyyear from 1924 to 1939 except for 1931.By 1942, production had recovered to almost 317.4million board feet, cut in 29 states, the largest since1919 and doubtless due to demands created by WorldWar II. The five leading States in beech lumber pro duction in 1942 were Kentucky, West Virginia, Penn sylvania, Tennessee, and Ohio—accounting for over60 percent of the cut. Production then continued atbetween 300 million and 360 million board feet an nually until 1952, when it dropped to 100 millionboard feet.From 1952 through 1965, beech lumber produc tion ranged between 166 million and 252 millionboard feet. New York, Kentucky, West Virginia, Penn sylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Maine and Ver mont continued to produce substantial volumes ofbeech lumber.Only about 5 percent as much beech timberis cut for veneer logs as for lumber production, andit comes from the highest quality beech trees. Thevolume cut for veneer between 1924 and 1929 variedfrom 4.7 million board feet, log scale to nearly 17.4million board feet, log scale. The average annualconsumption of beech veneer logs in 1929,1931, 1935,and 1937 was 12.3 million board feet, log scale. Morerecently, the annual volume has leveled off at about10 million board feet, log scale, the 1963 productionbeing 10.1 million board feet. Maine produced 52percent of this volume.Natural enemies of beech include the beech scale,several wood-rotting fungi, and the saddled promi nent (caterpillar).Beech scale followed by Nectria species producesthe bark disease that causes extensive mortality inparts of New York, New England, and adjacentCanada, killing as much as 50 percent of the trees insome localities. Wood-rotting fungi cause considerable losses in volume and value of beech wood.The most serious beech defoliator is the saddledprominent. Other insects that may cause severe damage are the gypsy moth and Bruce’s spanworm.CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIESBeech is one of our heavy native hardwoods: ithas an average weight of 45 pounds per cubic foot,and specific gravity of 0.56, and rates high on thehardness scale. It shrinks substantially during season ing and requires maximum care to avoid checks,warping, and discoloration. Beech rates high instrength, shock resistance, and stiffness, yet bendsreadily when steamed. Because its physical and me chanical properties are so balanced, it rates highamong native hardwood species for nearly all woodmachining processes. These and other properties make5
the wood suitable for a number of special uses: foodcontainers, furniture parts, turned good, and manyarticles classified as woodenware and novelties. Beechgives an average yield of 32 percent of dense highquality charcoal and is favored as fireplace wood.The wood is fairly uniform in texture, dark tolight reddish brown, without pronounced figure. Theheartwood varies from reddish brown to nearly whitewith a reddish tinge; the sapwood is also nearly whitetinged with red, and generally 2 to 5 inches wide onmature trees. Often sapwood cannot be distinguishedfrom heartwood. The annual rings, although not con spicuous, are distinct. The pores in each annual ringdecrease in size and number as seasonal growth pro gresses, giving a darker appearance to that part of thering grown late in the season.Beech ranks high in nail-holding ability but has atendency to split in nailing. It is difficult to workwith hand tools. The wood wears well and stayssmooth when subjected to friction even under water.This wearing ability has contributed to its wide usefor many years as factory flooring—particularly inmachine shops and textile mills where hand and lifttrucks are used.After it has been steamed, beech wood can be bentreadily and held in clamps while drying to set desired curvature permanently. Its ability to maintaincurvature after bending has led to increasing use forcurved chair parts.Beech wood is not resistant to decay. In this respect,it ranks with birch, maple, and red oak—belowsweetgum heartwood and southern pine, but wellabove basswood, cottonwood, and sap sweetgum.When treated by the pressure process, the sapwoodand “white” heartwood are readily penetrated with awood preservative like creosote. “Red” heartwood isdifficult to penetrate with preservatives, and retentionis uncertain. Beech can be glued successfully, butclose control of the gluing conditions is required.Beech wood is finished readily with either paint ortransparent finishes.Beech was formerly considered comparatively diffi cult to manufacture into paper pulp and was pulpedalmost entirely by the soda process. Now it is easilyconverted into useful pulps by most currently usedprocesses. However, because of some natural charac teristics of the wood, beech pulps are not classified ashigh-quality, though they can be used well in mixturewith other pulps, The short, fine fibers serve as a fillerto produce the smooth surface and softness requiredin several papers. Beech can also be used as a partialreplacement from coniferous woods in the manufac ture of the viscose grade of dissolving pulp.The chemical properties of beech make it an im portant source of several widely used chemicals. It isan outstanding wood for the production of methanol,6acetate, and wood tar. Creosote made from beechwood tar is considered the best for medical purposes.PRINCIPAL USESBeech is used mainly for lumber, veneer, charcoal,railroad ties, and pulpwood. For many years, dis tillation and slack cooperage constituted two otherimportant uses, but, with the substantial decrease inthe demand for these products since World War II,the use of beech for such purposes has dwindled. In1960, of 72,000,000 board feet of all native hardwoods used in the manufacture of both tight andslack cooperage, it is estimated that only about 100,000 feet was beech.Beech lumber is remanufactured mainly into boxes,crates, baskets, and pallets; furniture (particularlychairs); flooring, sash, doors, trim, paneling, andgeneral millwork; woodenware and novelties; andhandles, brooms, and brushes. It is especially suitablefor food containers because it imparts neither tastenor odor. Its excellent turning properties have con tributed to its growing use for small articles madewith a lathe.The strength and hardness of beech, and its abilityto take preservative treatment (with cresote or someother chemical) account for its suitability and usefor railroad ties. Beech production for railroad ties(last reported in 1947) was 8000 ties.In 1964, about 1 percent of mixed hardwood railroad ties produced for preservative treatment wasbeech. About 1,460,000 board feet, log scale, are re quired for this production.Some beech is still used for the production ofmethanol, acetate, and wood tar; and increasingvolumes are being used for charcoal since the revivalof this industry in the late 1950’s.It is estimated that about 10 hardwood distillationplants remained in operation after 1961. There are nostatistics available to estimate the volume of beechthat may be used annually for distillation.A revival of the use of charcoal, starting in the late1950’s and continuing currently, has paralleled therecent expansion in outdoor recreation and cooking.In 1961, about 250,000 tons of charcoal producedwere estimated to be from hardwood. If 20 percent ofthis was beech, the annual consumption of beech forcharcoal is currently 105,000 cords.Increasing volumes of beech are being made intopaper pulp, and this pulp is mixed with long-fiberedwood pulps and used in the manufacture of paperfor books and other papers that require a smoothsurface and softness.The use of a beech, birch, and maple for pulpwoodis currently increasing at a rate of 2 percent per yearand beech accounts for the major part of the increase.
It is estimated that 3750,000 cords of beech pulpwoodare cut annually.Beechnuts are sometimes gathered and sold. Thenuts are sweet and somewhat oily and are a preferredfood of some game animals and birds. Beech “mast”(nuts) was a favorite food for hogs that formerlyranged in large numbers in hardwood timber standsin the Appalachian Mountains and in the hardwoodcreek bottoms scattered throughout the southernpiney woods.Beech has always been favored for fuelwood; but,since wood has been replaced by coal, oil, and gas foruse as fuel, beech is used mainly for fireplace wood.Only hickory and white oak rate above it in heatingvalue.7
REFERENCESFor sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing OfficeWashtngton, D.C. 20402 - Price 25 centsStock Number 0101-003798U.S. Government Printing Office: 1974 - 411-477
Mature beech trees are generally 80 to 120 feet tall and 18 to 50 inches in diameter (at breast height). Individual trees over 4 feet in diameter and 120 feet tall have been recorded, but these trees fre quently are hollow at the butt. Attaining such size takes 350 to
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Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. 3 Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
