Other Common Names:
American Beech, Red Beech
Beech is common throughout the hardwood areas of P.E.I. but was rapidly being killed or deformed by the beech canker in th late 1950's. It grows up to 60 feet with a diameter of 18 inches. The trunk is usually short, often crooked and breaks up not far from the ground into a dense, massive crown of wide-spreading tough and flexible branches.
It is usually found on rich bottom lands and moist, well-drained slopes and ridges. It is sometimes found in pure stands but more often is mixed with our other native hardwoods.
The smooth, close-fitting, light blue-grey bark of the trunk makes it readily discernable from any other tree, even in the winter.
The wood is used for flooring, f~rniture, vehicle stock, railway ties, cooperage, handles and woodenware.
DESCRIPTION
LEAVES: Alternate, simple, eliptical in outline, sharp-pointed, coarse-toothed with sharp incurved teeth, 2 1/2 to 6 inches long; dark blue-green above, paler below.
FLOWERS: April-May, after the leaves; unisexual, male in drooping, yellow-green heads, female in short spikes, both on the same tree.
FRUIT: October; a three-cornered, sharp-pointed, shiny, brown, edible nut, about 3/4 of an inch long; borne usually in pairs in a prickly brown husk, opening at maturity.
TWIGS: Slender, slightly zig-zag, shiny reddish-brown to brownish-grey. Buds 3/4 to 1 inch long, cylindrical, with shiny, brown, slightly hairy, scales, diverging from the twig. Has a terminal bud.
BARK: Thin, smooth, light blue-grey, often mottled with darker patches.
WOOD: Heavy, hard, strong, diffuse-porous; reddish-brown with almost white sapwood.
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