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Fagus grandifolia
Also called Gaawemizh
American beech is a large deciduous forest tree of eastern North America, growing 16 to 35 m tall with smooth silver-gray bark. It is shade tolerant and grows slowly, so it is mainly grown as a shade-tolerant ornamental or forest tree rather than a quick garden plant.
Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is a species of tree growing to 16–35 meters (52–115 feet) tall. It is one of two beech species native to North America, the other occurring in Mexico. It flourished over most of the continent prior to the last ice age, but is now limited to the east. The tree is shade tolerant and typically found in forests when the site is at its climax.
The nuts are eaten by animals and humans. The leaves and inner bark can be prepared as well.
The American beech can be found in its extant native region of eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. Mature specimens are rare in lowland areas as early settlers quickly discovered that the presence of the tree indicated good farmland.
American beech is an important tree in forestry. The wood is hard and difficult to cut or split, although at 43 pounds per cubic foot (0.69 g/cm3) it is not exceptionally heavy, and it also rots relatively easily. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, most notably bentwood furniture as beech wood easily bends when steamed. It also makes high quality, long-burning firewood.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Fagus grandifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
