American Beech (Fagus grandiflora)

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My current favorite tree. Immediately identifiable by its smooth, bright gray/silver bark, it's a standout in a forest of otherwise furrowed, rough, blocky, scaly, flaky, fibrous, and warty skinned trees. 

The only native trees in Piedmont NC that you might misidentify at first as beech are musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana) and young silver maple (Acer saccharinum). They both have similarly smooth bark but underneath the bark, musclewood grows muscle-like ridges, where the beech is much more smoothly rounded. For maple look to the buds in winter or obviously the leaves when present give it away.

Extreme example of ridged "muscles" of musclewood.

 

No muscle here (beech).

Musclewood is also an understory tree that seldom grows more that 10-12 inches in diameter, while American beech can reach 3-4 feet in diameter for older individuals. 

In winter for smaller or on younger trees you can also count on the distinctive buds to help rule out musclewood. The buds of musclewood are tiny and rounded/oval, where the beech buds are long, pointy, scaly, and amber/brown colored, up to about 3/4 inch (2 cm) in length:

Beech bud.

Maple buds are more rounded/oval and arranged in opposite pairs (plus single terminal bud).

Silver maple buds

Finally, beech leaves often persist in their fall colors through the winter, especially in younger, smaller trees and lower branches (when present) in older trees. The leaves themselves are oval but coming to a point at the tips (ovate) and toothed (serrated), but more on that later this spring when I can include pictures. 

Persistent fall-colored leaves (photo taken mid January).


"Elephantine" trunk.

When I was recently walking a forest in upstate NY, virtually all of the beech trees were afflicted with beech bark disease, a fatal fungal infection. Luckily none of the trees I have seen down here in NC have the disease, but it is present in the western part of the state and only a matter of time before American beech goes the way of American elm, American chestnut, etc. So sad.

 

 To be continued...

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