Scientific Name: Fagus grandifolia
Common Name: American beech
Native Range: Eastern North America
Zone: 3 to 9
Plant type & Form: tree with dense, upright-oval to rounded-spreading crown
Height: 50.00 to 80.00 feet
Spread: 40.00 to 80.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Yellowish-green
Flower: male flowers in drooping, long-stemmed, globular clusters and the female flowers in short spikes
Fruit: triangular nuts enclosed by spiny bracts. Beechnuts ripen in fall and are edible.
Leaf: Ovate to elliptic dark green leaves (to 5” long) have coarse, widely-spaced marginal teeth and prominent parallel veins, each vein ending at the tip of a marginal tooth
Bark: thin, smooth, gray
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Soil type & pH: deep, rich, moist but well-drained soils
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Shade Tree
Tolerates: Deer, Black Walnut
Notes: In the wild, beeches often form thickets or colonies by suckering from the shallow roots.
Identification notes: American beech is primarily distinguished from the similar European beech (Fagus sylvatica) by (a) larger size, (b) lighter gray bark, and (c) longer leaves that have wavy mostly toothed margins.
