View source for Beech

{{Short description|Genus of trees in the family Fagaceae}}
{{good article}}
{{About|the genus of trees|other uses|Beech (disambiguation)|and|Beechwood (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Beach|Birch|Fagus (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Beech
| image = Beech-tree.JPG
| image_alt = European beech tree
| image_caption = European beech (''[[Fagus sylvatica]]'')
| parent_authority = [[Karl Koch (botanist)|K.Koch]]
| taxon = Fagus
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| type_species = ''[[Fagus sylvatica]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl von Linné|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See [[#Species|text]]
}}
'''Beech''' (genus '''''Fagus''''') is a [[genus]] of [[deciduous]] trees in the family [[Fagaceae]], native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of [[Mesophyte|mesophytic]] forests) [[Eurasia]] and North America. There are 14 accepted species in two distinct subgenera, ''Englerianae'' {{Small|Denk & G.W.Grimm}} and ''Fagus''.<ref name="Denk-2024">{{Cite journal |last1=Denk |first1=Thomas |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |last3=Cardoni |first3=Simone |last4=Csilléry |first4=Katalin |last5=Kurz |first5=Mirjam |last6=Schulze |first6=Ernst-Detlef |last7=Simeone |first7=Marco Cosimo |last8=Worth |first8=James R. P. |date=2024 |title=A subgeneric classification of Fagus (Fagaceae) and revised taxonomy of western Eurasian beeches |journal=Willdenowia |volume=54 |issue=2–3|pages=151-181 |doi=10.3372/wi.54.54301 |bibcode=2024Willd..5454301D |issn=0511-9618|doi-access=free }}</ref> The subgenus ''Englerianae'' is found only in East Asia, distinctive for its low branches, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. The better known species of subgenus ''Fagus'' are native to Europe, western and eastern Asia and eastern North America. 

The European beech ''[[Fagus sylvatica]]'' is the most commonly cultivated species, with several ornamental varieties, and forest trees yielding a timber used for furniture, flooring and construction, plywood, and household items. The timber can be used to build homes. Beechwood makes excellent [[firewood]]. Slats of washed beech wood are spread around the bottom of fermentation tanks for some beers. Beech logs are burned to dry the [[malt]] used in some German [[smoked beer]]s. Beech is also used to smoke [[Westphalian ham]], [[andouille]] sausage, and some cheeses.

== Description ==

Beeches are [[monoecious]], bearing both male and female flowers on the same plant. The small flowers are unisexual, the female flowers borne in pairs, the male flowers wind-pollinating [[catkin]]s. The fruit is a three-angled [[Nut (fruit)|nut]], with two in a spiny [[dehiscent]] cupule. The bark is smooth. The leaves have a central vein with side-veins parallel to each other and ending in a tooth on the thin leaf-blade. The tree is [[deciduous]], dropping its leaves in autumn.<ref name="IDS (genus)">{{cite web |title=Trees and Shrubs Online: Fagus L. |url=https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/fagus/ |publisher=[[International Dendrology Society]] |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:367 Fagus silvatica.jpg|Botanical illustration
File:Fagus sylvatica leaf 001.jpg|Leaf of ''[[Fagus sylvatica]]''
File:Beech flowers.jpg|''F. sylvatica'' flowers
File:Beechnuts during autumn.jpg|Beechnuts in autumn
</gallery>

== Evolution ==

=== Evolutionary history ===

{{see also|List of fossil beech species}}

[[File:Fagus sylvatica pliocenica MHNT.PAL.VEG.2002.31 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Fagus sylvatica pliocenica'', [[Piacenzian]], 3.6 to 2.6 mya ]]

Numerous species have been named globally from the fossil record spanning from the [[Cretaceous]] to the [[Pleistocene]].<ref name="IFPNI-2023">{{cite web |url=http://ifpni.org/genus.htm?id=3EE9EA96-C4DC-4621-B6EB-697227CF797B |website=The International Fossil Plant Names Index |title=''Fagus'' |access-date=6 Feb 2023}}</ref> Some fossil species formerly placed in ''Fagus'' have been moved to other genera, namely ''[[Alnus]]'', ''[[Castanea]]'', ''[[Fagopsis]]'', ''[[Fagoxylon]]'', ''[[Fagus-pollenites]]'', ''[[Juglans]]'', ''[[Nothofagaphyllites]]'', ''[[Nothofagus]]'', and ''[[Trigonobalanus]]''.<ref name="IFPNI-2023"/>

''Fagus'' is the first [[Divergent evolution|diverging]] lineage in the evolution of the [[Fagaceae]] family,<ref name="Grímsson-2016"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Biao-Feng |last2=Yuan |first2=Shuai |last3=Crowl |first3=Andrew A. |last4=Liang |first4=Yi-Ye |last5=Shi |first5=Yong |last6=Chen |first6=Xue-Yan |last7=An |first7=Qing-Qing |last8=Kang |first8=Ming |last9=Manos |first9=Paul S. |last10=Wang |first10=Baosheng |date=2022-03-14 |title=Phylogenomic analyses highlight innovation and introgression in the continental radiations of Fagaceae across the Northern Hemisphere |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |page=1320 |doi=10.1038/s41467-022-28917-1 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=8921187 |pmid=35288565|bibcode=2022NatCo..13.1320Z }}</ref> which includes [[oak]]s and [[chestnut]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Manos |first1=Paul S. |first2=Kelly P. |last2=Steele |title=Phylogenetic analysis of "Higher" Hamamelididae based on Plasid Sequence Data |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=84 |issue=10 |pages=1407–19 |date=1997 |doi=10.2307/2446139 |jstor=2446139 |pmid=21708548 |url=|doi-access=free }}</ref> The oldest fossils that can be assigned to the beech lineage are 81–82 million years old [[pollen]] from the [[Late Cretaceous]] of [[Wyoming]], United States.<ref name="Grímsson-2016"/>

The first representatives of the modern-day genus were likely already present in the [[Paleocene]] of [[Arctic]] North America (western [[Greenland]]<ref name="Grímsson-2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Grímsson |first1=Friðgeir |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |last3=Zetter |first3=Reinhard |last4=Denk |first4=Thomas |date=2016-12-01 |title=Cretaceous and Paleogene Fagaceae from North America and Greenland: evidence for a Late Cretaceous split between Fagus and the remaining Fagaceae |url=https://acpa.botany.pl/Cretaceous-and-Paleogene-Fagaceae-nfrom-North-America-and-Greenland-evidence-nfor,118915,0,2.html |journal=Acta Palaeobotanica |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=247–305 |doi=10.1515/acpa-2016-0016 |issn=2082-0259|doi-access=free }}</ref>) and quickly radiated across the high latitudes of the [[Northern Hemisphere]], with a first [[Biodiversity|diversity]] peak in the [[Miocene]] of northeastern Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Denk |first1=Thomas |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |date=2009 |title=The biogeographic history of beech trees |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0034666709001353 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |language=en |volume=158 |issue=1–2 |pages=83–100 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.08.007|bibcode=2009RPaPa.158...83D |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Renner |first1=S. S. |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |last3=Kapli |first3=Paschalia |last4=Denk |first4=Thomas |date=2016-07-19 |title=Species relationships and divergence times in beeches: new insights from the inclusion of 53 young and old fossils in a birth–death clock model |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=371 |issue=1699 |article-number=20150135 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2015.0135 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=4920336 |pmid=27325832}}</ref> The contemporary species are the product of past, repeated [[Reticulate evolution|reticulate evolutionary processes]] ([[Outcrossing|outbreeding]], [[introgression]], [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]]).<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/> As far as studied, heterozygosity and intragenomic variation are common in beech species,<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Denk-2005"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/> and their chloroplast genomes are nonspecific with the exception of the Western Eurasian and North American species.<ref name="Denk-2024"/>

=== Phylogeny ===

A cladogram of 11 extant beech species is shown below. The subgenera ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus'' diverged from each other in the [[Early Oligocene]] era, 32.1 to 33.4 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Lu |display-authors=etal |title=Phylogeny and biogeography of Fagus (Fagaceae) based on 28 nuclear single/low-copy loci |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |date=10 October 2020 |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=759–772 |doi=10.1111/jse.12695 |bibcode=2022JSyEv..60..759J |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jse.12695 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

{{clade
|label1='''''Fagus'''''
|1={{clade
   |label1=subg. ''Engleriana'' |sublabel1=Japan, Korea
   |1={{clade
      |1=''[[Fagus multinervis|F. multinervis]]''
      |2={{clade
         |1=''[[Fagus engleriana|F. engleriana]]''
         |2=''[[Fagus japonica|F. japonica]]''
         }}
      }}
   |label2=subg. ''Fagus'' |sublabel2=
   |2={{clade
      |label1=sect. ''Grandifolia'' |sublabel1=Eastern US
      |1={{clade
         |1=''[[Fagus grandifolia|F. grandifolia]]''
         |2=''[[Fagus mexicana|F. mexicana]]''
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |label1=sect. ''Fagus'' |sublabel1=Europe
         |1={{clade
            |1=''[[Fagus orientalis|F. orientalis]]''
            |2=''[[Fagus sylvatica|F. sylvatica]]''
            }}
         |label2=sect. ''Lucida'' |sublabel2=Southeast Asia
         |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Fagus hayatae|F. hayatae]]''
            |2={{clade
               |1=''[[Fagus crenata|F. crenata]]''
               |2={{clade
                  |1=''[[Fagus longipetiolata|F. longipetiolata]]''
                  |2=''[[Fagus lucida|F. lucida]]''
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}

=== Taxonomy ===

The most recent classification system of the genus recognizes 14 species in two distinct subgenera, subgenus ''Englerianae'' and ''Fagus''.<ref name="Denk-2024"/> Beech species can be diagnosed by [[Phenotype|phenotypical]] and/or [[Genotype|genotypical]] traits. Species of subgenus ''Engleriana'' are found only in East Asia, and are notably distinct from species of subgenus ''Fagus'' in that these beeches are low-branching trees, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark and a substantially different [[Nuclear DNA|nucleome (nuclear DNA)]], especially in noncoding, highly variable gene regions such as the [[Spacer DNA|spacers]] of the nuclear-encoded [[Ribosomal DNA|ribosomal RNA genes (ribosomal DNA)]].<ref name="Cardoni-2021">{{cite journal|last1=Cardoni |first1=Simone |title=5S-IGS rDNA in wind-pollinated trees (Fagus L.) encapsulates 55 million years of reticulate evolution and hybrid origins of modern species |date=2021-10-19 |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.26.433057v2 |access-date=2024-10-24 |doi=10.1111/tpj.15601|biorxiv=10.1101/2021.02.26.433057 |last2=Piredda |first2=Roberta |last3=Denk |first3=Thomas |last4=Grimm |first4=Guido W. |last5=Papageorgiou |first5=Aristotelis C. |last6=Schulze |first6=Ernst-Detlef |last7=Scoppola |first7=Anna |last8=Shanjani |first8=Parvin Salehi |last9=Suyama |first9=Yoshihisa|journal=The Plant Journal |volume=109 |issue=4 |pages=909–926 |pmid=34808015 |pmc=9299691 }}</ref><ref name="Denk-2005">{{Cite journal |last1=Denk |first1=Thomas |last2=Grimm |first2=Guido W. |last3=Hemleben |first3=Vera |date=June 2005 |title=Patterns of molecular and morphological differentiation in Fagus (Fagaceae): phylogenetic implications |url=https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.92.6.1006 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=92 |issue=6 |pages=1006–1016 |doi=10.3732/ajb.92.6.1006 |pmid=21652485 |issn=0002-9122}}</ref> Further differentiating characteristics include the whitish bloom on the underside of the leaves, the visible tertiary leaf veins, and a long, smooth [[Calybium and cupule|cupule]]-[[Peduncle (botany)|peduncle]]. Originally proposed but not formalized by botanist Chung-Fu Shen in 1992, this group comprised two Japanese species, ''[[Fagus japonica|F.&nbsp;japonica]]'' and ''[[Fagus okamotoi|F.&nbsp;okamotoi]],'' and one Chinese species, ''[[Fagus engleriana|F.&nbsp;engleriana]]''.<ref name="Shen-1992">{{cite thesis |last=Shen |first=Chung-Fu |title=A Monograph of the Genus ''Fagus'' Tourn. Ex L. (Fagaceae) |date=1992 |type=PhD |publisher=City University of New York |oclc=28329966}}</ref> While the status of ''F. okamotoi'' remains uncertain, the most recent systematic treatment based on morphological and genetic data confirmed a third species, ''F. multinervis,'' endemic to [[Ulleungdo]], a South Korean island in the [[Sea of Japan]].<ref name="Denk-2024"/> The beeches of Ulleungdo have been traditionally treated as a subspecies of ''F. engleriana,'' to which they are phenotypically identical,<ref name="Shen-1992"/><ref name="Denk-2003">{{Cite journal |last=Denk |first=T. |date=2003-09-01 |title=Phylogeny of Fagus L. (Fagaceae) based on morphological data |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00606-003-0018-x |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |volume=240 |issue=1 |pages=55–81 |doi=10.1007/s00606-003-0018-x |bibcode=2003PSyEv.240...55D |url-access=subscription }}</ref> or as a variety of ''F. japonica.''<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Oh |first1=Sang-Hun |last2=Youm |first2=Jung-Won |last3=Kim |first3=Yong-In |last4=Kim |first4=Young-Dong |date=2016-09-01 |title=Phylogeny and Evolution of Endemic Species on Ulleungdo Island, Korea: The Case of Fagus multinervis (Fagaceae) |url=http://openurl.ingenta.com/content/xref?genre=article&issn=0363-6445&volume=41&issue=3&spage=617 |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=617–625 |doi=10.1600/036364416X692271|bibcode=2016SysBo..41..617O |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The differ from their siblings by their unique [[Nuclear DNA|nuclear]] and [[Chloroplast DNA|plastid]] genotypes.<ref name="Denk-2024"/><ref name="Jiang-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Lu |last2=Bao |first2=Qin |last3=He |first3=Wei |last4=Fan |first4=Deng-Mei |last5=Cheng |first5=Shan-Mei |last6=López-Pujol |first6=Jordi |last7=Chung |first7=Myong Gi |last8=Sakaguchi |first8=Shota |last9=Sánchez-González |first9=Arturo |last10=Gedik |first10=Aysun |last11=Li |first11=De-Zhu |last12=Kou |first12=Yi-Xuan |last13=Zhang |first13=Zhi-Yong |display-authors=5 |date=July 2022 |title=Phylogeny and biogeography of Fagus (Fagaceae) based on 28 nuclear single/low-copy loci |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jse.12695 |journal=Journal of Systematics and Evolution |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=759–772 |doi=10.1111/jse.12695 |bibcode=2022JSyEv..60..759J |issn=1674-4918|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Cardoni-2021"/>

The better known subgenus ''Fagus'' beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and smooth silver-grey bark. This group includes five extant species in continental and insular East Asia (''[[Fagus crenata|F. crenata]], [[Fagus longipetiolata|F. longipetiolata]], [[Fagus lucida|F. lucida]]'', and the [[Cryptic speciation|cryptic]] sister species ''[[Fagus hayatae|F. hayatae]]'' and ''[[Fagus pashanica|F. pashanica]]''), two pseudo-cryptic species in [[eastern North America]] (''[[Fagus grandifolia|F.&nbsp;grandifolia]]'', ''[[Fagus mexicana|F. mexicana]]''), and a [[species complex]] of at least four species (''[[Fagus caspica|F. caspica]]'', ''[[Fagus hohenackeriana|F. hohenackeriana]]'', ''[[Fagus orientalis|F. orientalis]]'', ''[[Fagus sylvatica|F. sylvatica]]'') in [[Western Eurasia]]. Their genetics are highly complex and include both species-unique [[allele]]s as well as alleles and ribosomal DNA spacers that are shared between two or more species.<ref name="Denk-2024"/> The western Eurasian species are characterised by morphological and genetical gradients.<ref name="Denk-2024"/>

=== Species ===

Species treated in Denk et al. (2024) and listed in [[Plants of the World Online|Plants of the World Online (POWO)]]:<ref name="Denk-2024"/>
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Image !! Name 
!Subgenus
!Status, systematic affinity!! Distribution 
!Accepted in POWO, Sept. 2025<ref name="POWO-2025">{{cite web |date=2025 |title=Fagus L. - Plants of the World Online |url=http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30048723-2 |access-date=2025-09-07 |website=Plants of the World Online}}</ref>
|-
|
|''[[Fagus caspica]]'' {{Small|Denk & G.W.Grimm}} – Caspian beech
|''Fagus''
|New species described in 2024;<ref name="Denk-2024"/> first-diverging lineage within the Western Eurasian group
|[[Talysh Mountains|Talysch]] and [[Alborz|Elburz Mountains]], southeastern Azerbaijan and northern Iran
|No mention<!-- (not even as a synonym)-->
|-
| ||''[[Fagus chienii]]'' {{small|[[Wan Chun Cheng|W.C.Cheng]]}}
|''Fagus''
|Possibly conspecific with ''F. lucida''<ref name="Denk-2003"/>|| Probably extinct, described from a single location in China (Sichuan). Individuals collected there were morphologically and genetically indistinguishable from ''F. pashanica''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Dan-Qi |last2=Jiang |first2=Lu |last3=Liang |first3=Hua |last4=Zhu |first4=Da-Hai |last5=Fan |first5=Deng-Mei |last6=Kou |first6=Yi-Xuan |last7=Yang |first7=Yi |last8=Zhang |first8=Zhi-Yong |date=2023-09-01 |title=Resolving a nearly 90-year-old enigma: The rare Fagus chienii is conspecific with F. hayatae based on molecular and morphological evidence |journal=Plant Diversity |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=544–551 |doi=10.1016/j.pld.2023.01.003 |pmc=10625896 |pmid=37936819 |bibcode=2023PlDiv..45..544L }}</ref>
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus crenata in Ogasayama 2010-10-17.jpg|120px]]||''[[Fagus crenata]]'' {{small|[[Carl Ludwig Blume|Blume]]}} – Siebold's beech or Japanese beech
|''Fagus''
|Widespread species; complex history connecting it to both the Western Eurasian group and the other East Asian species of subgenus ''Fagus''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/>||Japan; in the mountains of [[Kyushu]], [[Shikoku]] and [[Honshu]], down to sea-level in southern [[Hokkaido]].
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus engleriana - Morris Arboretum - DSC00475.JPG|120px]]||''[[Fagus engleriana]]'' {{small|[[Karl Otto von Seemen|Seemen]] ex Diels}} – Chinese beech
|''Englerianae''
|Widespread species; continental sister species of ''F. japonica''<ref name="Denk-2005"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/><ref name="Cardoni-2021"/>||China; south of the [[Yellow River]]
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus grandifolia JPG1Ms.jpg|80px]]||''[[Fagus grandifolia]]'' {{small|[[Ehrh.]]}} – American beech
|''Fagus''
|Widespread species; sister species of ''F. mexicana''<ref name="Jiang-2022"/><ref name="Cardoni-2021"/>||Eastern North America; from E. Texas and N. Florida, United States, to the [[St. Lawrence River]], Canada at low to mid altitudes
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus hayatae 98412.jpg|120px]]||''[[Fagus hayatae]]'' {{small|Palib. ex Hayata}}
|''Fagus''
|Narrow [[Endemism|endemic]] species; forming a cryptic sister species pair with ''F. pashanica''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Denk-2024"/>||Taiwan; restricted to the mountains of northern Taiwan
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus hohenackeriana near Fioletovo village, Armenia S-N 04.jpg|80px]]||''[[Fagus hohenackeriana]]'' {{Small|Palib.}} – Caucasian or [[Rudolph Friedrich Hohenacker|Hohenacker]]'s beech
|''Fagus''
|Dominant tree species of the Pontic and [[Caucasus]] Mountains; intermediate between ''F. caspica'' and ''F. orientalis.''<ref name="Gömöry-2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Gömöry |first1=Dušan |last2=Paule |first2=Ladislav |date=2010-07-01 |title=Reticulate evolution patterns in western-Eurasian beeches |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00035-010-0068-y |journal=Botanica Helvetica |language=en |volume=120 |issue=1 |pages=63–74 |doi=10.1007/s00035-010-0068-y |bibcode=2010BotHe.120...63G |issn=1420-9063|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Gömöry-2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Gömöry |first1=Dušan |last2=Paule |first2=Ladislav |last3=Mačejovský |first3=Vladimír |date=2018-06-29 |title=Phylogeny of beech in western Eurasia as inferred by approximate Bayesian computation |url=https://pbsociety.org.pl/journals/index.php/asbp/article/view/asbp.3582 |journal=Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae |language=en |volume=87 |issue=2 |page=3582 |doi=10.5586/asbp.3582 |bibcode=2018AcSBP..87.3582G |issn=2083-9480}}</ref><ref name="Kurz-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Kurz |first1=Mirjam |last2=Kölz |first2=Adrian |last3=Gorges |first3=Jonas |last4=Pablo Carmona |first4=Beatriz |last5=Brang |first5=Peter |last6=Vitasse |first6=Yann |last7=Kohler |first7=Martin |last8=Rezzonico |first8=Fabio |last9=Smits |first9=Theo H. M. |last10=Bauhus |first10=Jürgen |last11=Rudow |first11=Andreas |last12=Kim Hansen |first12=Ole |last13=Vatanparast |first13=Mohammad |last14=Sevik |first14=Hakan |last15=Zhelev |first15=Petar |display-authors=5 |date=2023-03-01 |title=Tracing the origin of Oriental beech stands across Western Europe and reporting hybridization with European beech – Implications for assisted gene flow |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0378112723000348 |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |volume=531 |article-number=120801 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120801 |bibcode=2023ForEM.53120801K |hdl=20.500.11850/597076 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Its genetic heterogeneity<ref name="Denk-2024"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sękiewicz |first1=Katarzyna |last2=Danelia |first2=Irina |last3=Farzaliyev |first3=Vahid |last4=Gholizadeh |first4=Hamid |last5=Iszkuło |first5=Grzegorz |last6=Naqinezhad |first6=Alireza |last7=Ramezani |first7=Elias |last8=Thomas |first8=Peter A. |last9=Tomaszewski |first9=Dominik |last10=Walas |first10=Łukasz |last11=Dering |first11=Monika |display-authors=5 |date=2022 |title=Past climatic refugia and landscape resistance explain spatial genetic structure in Oriental beech in the South Caucasus |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=12 |issue=9 |article-number=e9320 |doi=10.1002/ece3.9320 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=9490144 |pmid=36188519|bibcode=2022EcoEv..12E9320S }}</ref> may be indicative for ongoing speciation processes.
|Northeastern Anatolia ([[Pontic Mountains]], [[Kaçkar Mountains]]) and Caucasus region ([[Lesser Caucasus|Lesser]] and [[Greater Caucasus]], Georgia, Armenia, [[North Caucasus|Ciscaucasia]]; down to sea-level in southwestern Georgia)
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Forest in Tanzawa 08.jpg|80px]]||''[[Fagus japonica]]'' {{small|[[Maxim.]]}}File:Fagus mexicana, Zacualtipán de Ángeles, Hidalgo, Mexico 5737290.jpg
|''Englerianae''
|Widespread species; insular sister species of ''F. engleriana''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/>''<ref name="Denk-2005"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/>''||Japan; Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu from sea-level up to c. 1500 m [[Height above mean sea level|a.s.l.]]
|Yes
|-
|
|''[[Fagus longipetiolata]]'' {{Small|Seemen}}
|''Fagus''
|[[Sympatry|Sym-]] to [[Parapatry|parapatric]] with ''F. lucida'' and ''F. pashanica'', and sharing alleles with both species in addition to alleles indicating a sister relationship with the Japanese ''F. crenata''.<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/>
|China, south of the Yellow River, into N. Vietnam; in montane areas up to 2400 m a.s.l.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fagus longipetiolata in Flora of China @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006255 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.efloras.org}}</ref>
|Replaced by ''F. sinensis''
|-
|[[File:Fagus lucida Buk 2020-07-18 01.jpg|120px]]||''[[Fagus lucida]]'' {{small|Rehder & [[E.H.Wilson]]}}
|''Fagus''
|Rare species; closest relatives are ''F. crenata''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Denk-2005"/><ref name="Denk-2003"/> and ''F. longipetiolata''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/>||China; south of the Yellow River in montane areas between 800 and 2000 m a.s.l.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fagus lucida in Flora of China @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006256 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.efloras.org}}</ref>
|Yes
|-
|[[File:Fagus mexicana, Zacualtipán de Ángeles, Hidalgo, Mexico 5737290.jpg|120px]]
|''Fagus mexicana'' {{Small|Martínez}}
|''Fagus''
|Narrow endemic sister species of ''F. grandifolia. F. mexicana'' differs from ''F. grandifolia'' by its slender leaves and less-evolved but more polymorphic set of alleles (higher level of [[Zygosity|heterozygosity]])<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/>
|[[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]], Mexico; at 1400–2000 m a.s.l. as an element of the subtropical montane mesophilic forest ([https://www.gob.mx/conabio/prensa/bosques-mesofilos-de-montana-de-mexico?idiom=es bosque mesófilo de montaña]) superimposing the tropical lowland rainforests.
|Yes
|-
| ||''[[Fagus multinervis]]'' {{small|Nakai}}
|''Englerianae''
|Narrow endemic species, first diverging lineage within subgenus ''Englerianae''<ref name="Cardoni-2021"/><ref name="Jiang-2022"/>|| South Korea ([[Ulleungdo]])
|Yes
|-
|[[File:TR Yedigöller asv2021-10 img13.jpg|120px]] ||''[[Fagus orientalis]]'' {{small|[[Vladimir Ippolitovich Lipsky|Lipsky]]}} – Oriental beech (in a narrow sense)
|''Fagus''
|Sister species of ''F. sylvatica''<ref name="Gömöry-2018"/><ref name="Kurz-2023"/>||Southeastern Europe (SE Bulgaria, NE Greece, [[East Thrace]] (European Turkey) and adjacent northwestern Asia (NW and N [[Anatolia]]) 
|Yes
|-
| ||''[[Fagus pashanica]]'' {{small|C.C.Yang}} 
|''Fagus''
|Continental sister species of ''F. hayatae'', with a set of alleles that puts it closer to ''F. longipetiolata'' and ''F. crenata'' than its insular sister.|| China (Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang), at 1300–2300 m a.s.l.(eFlora of China, as ''F. hayatae''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fagus hayatae in Flora of China @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200006254 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.efloras.org}}</ref>) 
|Yes
|-
| ||''[[Fagus sinensis]]'' {{small|Oliv.}} 
|''Fagus''
|Invalid; the original material included material from two much different species: ''F. engleriana'' and ''F. longipetiolata''<ref name="Denk-2024"/><ref name="Denk-2003"/>|| China (Hubei), Vietnam
|Yes, erroneously used as older synonym of ''F. longipetiolata''
|-
|[[File:Fagus sylvatica TK 2023-05-06 5.jpg|80px]] ||''[[Fagus sylvatica]]'' {{small|[[L.]]}} – European beech
|''Fagus''
|Sister species of and closely related to ''F. orientalis''<ref name="Gömöry-2018"/><ref name="Kurz-2023"/>|| Europe
|Yes
|}

=== Natural and potential hybrids ===

{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Name !! Parentage !! Status !! Distribution 
|-
|[[Fagus × moesiaca|''Fagus'' (×) ''moesiaca'']] {{Small|(K. Malý) Czeczott}}
|''F. sylvatica'' × ''F. orientalis''
|No evidence so far for hybrid origin. All individuals addressed as ''F. moesiaca'' included in genetic studies fell within the variation of ''F. sylvatica.''<ref name="Denk-2005"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ulaszewski |first1=Bartosz |last2=Meger |first2=Joanna |last3=Mishra |first3=Bagdevi |last4=Thines |first4=Marco |last5=Burczyk |first5=Jarosław |date=2021 |title=Complete Chloroplast Genomes of Fagus sylvatica L. Reveal Sequence Conservation in the Inverted Repeat and the Presence of Allelic Variation in NUPTs |journal=Genes |volume=12 |issue=9 |page=1357 |doi=10.3390/genes12091357 |doi-access=free |issn=2073-4425 |pmc=8468245 |pmid=34573338}}</ref> They may represent a lowland ecotype of ''F. sylvatica.''<ref name="Denk-2024"/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Denk |first=Th. |date=January 1999 |title=The taxonomy of Fagus in western Eurasia. 2: Fagus sylvatica subsp. sylvatica |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fedr.19991100510 |journal=Feddes Repertorium |volume=110 |issue=5–6 |pages=381–412 |doi=10.1002/fedr.19991100510 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|Southeastern [[Balkans]]
<!--|-
|''Fagus okamotoi'' {{Small|Shen}}
|''F. crenata'' × ''F. japonica'' ?
|Unique phenotype, described from an area in which ''F. crenata'' and ''F. japonica'' are sympatric. So far, there is no genetic evidence for ongoing gene flow between the two Japanese species, which belong to different subgeneric lineages. 
|[[Kantō region|Kanto]], eastern Honshu-->
|-
|''[[Fagus × taurica]]'' {{small|Popl.}} – Crimean beech|| ''F. sylvatica'' × ''F. orientalis'' s.l.
|Hybrid status not yet tested by genetic data; according to [[Isozyme|isoenzyme]] profiles a less-evolved, relict population of ''F. sylvatica'' or intermediate between ''F. sylvatica'' and the species complex historically addressed as Oriental beech (''F. orientalis'' in a broad sense)<ref name="Gömöry-2010"/>||Crimean peninsula
|}

=== Etymology ===

The name of the tree in Latin, ''fagus'' (whence the [[generic epithet]]), is cognate with English "beech" and of [[Indo-European language|Indo-European]] origin. It played a role in early debates on the geographical origins of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European people]], the [[beech argument]]. [[Greek language|Greek]] φηγός (figós) is from the same root, but the word was transferred to the oak tree (e.g. ''[[Iliad]]'' 16.767) as a result of the absence of beech trees in southern Greece.<ref>{{cite book |last=Beekes |first=Robert |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden and Boston |year=2010 |pages=1565–1566 |url=https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-greek_202306/page/n807/mode/2up?q=fagus |isbn=978-9004174184 |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref>

The common name of "beech" is from the Anglo-Saxon ''boc'', ''bece'' or ''beoce'', the German ''buche'', the Swedish ''box'' - all meaning "book" as well as beech and derived from the [[Sanskrit]]
''boko'' or letter and ''bokos'' or writings. This connection to "beech" seems to have derived from the fact that the old [[Runes|Runic]] tablets were of beech wood.<ref name="berry">{{cite journal|journal=The Plant World|title=Notes on the Ancestry of the Beech|last=Berry|first=Edward W.|volume=19|issue=3|date=March 1916|pages=66-67|jstor=43477503}}</ref>

== Ecology ==

=== Habitat and distribution ===

Beech requires a deep soil with good drainage and a neutral or slightly acidic soil, [[pH]] 6 to 7.5. It is vulnerable to drought as its root system is relatively shallow. It does not live in waterlogged areas, but it can grow in windy places, shade from other trees, and cold. In northern Europe it is a lowland species, while further south it is [[Montane ecosystem|montane]], growing at an altitude of up to {{convert|1800|m|ft}}.<ref name="Forest Research">{{cite web |title=Beech (BE) Fagus sylvatica (L.) |url=https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/tree-species-database/beech-be/ |publisher=[[Forest Research]] |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref> 

The [[English Lowlands beech forests]] is an [[ecoregion]] of high-canopy forest dominated by European beech in southeastern England, surviving as remnants such as the {{convert|150|sqmi|sqkm}} [[New Forest]].<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=English Lowlands beech forests|id=pa0421}}</ref> The species arrived in Britain after the last glaciation, and may have been restricted to basic soils in the south of England. It could have been introduced by Neolithic tribes who planted the trees for their edible nuts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/faga/fagus/fagusylv.jpg |title= Map|website=linnaeus.nrm.se |access-date=2019-08-07}}</ref> In southeast Wales, the [[Cwm Clydach National Nature Reserve]] holds beech woodlands on the western edge of their natural range in a steep limestone gorge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ccw.gov.uk/landscape--wildlife/protecting-our-landscape/special-landscapes--sites/protected-landscapes/national-nature-reserves/cwm-clydach.aspx |title=Cwm Clydach |publisher=Countryside Council for Wales Landscape & wildlife |access-date=4 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925090500/http://www.ccw.gov.uk/landscape--wildlife/protecting-our-landscape/special-landscapes--sites/protected-landscapes/national-nature-reserves/cwm-clydach.aspx |archive-date=25 September 2010 }}</ref>
The [[Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe|primeval beech forests of the Carpathians]] have been dominated since the last ice age by the beech.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133 |title=Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher=United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>
In North America, beech can form [[Beech-maple forest]], seen by some ecologists as a [[climax community]], by partnering with the [[sugar maple]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/eco_succession.htm |title=Eco Succession |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226141759/http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/eco_succession.htm |archive-date=2008-12-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="180" heights="180">
File:Beech trees in Mallard Wood, New Forest - geograph.org.uk - 779513.jpg|Lowland beech forest in the [[New Forest]], England
File:Beech forest Mátra in winter.jpg|Montane beech forest in the [[Mátra]] mountains, Hungary
File:Beech-maple forest with details of leaves.jpg|[[Beech–maple forest]], Ohio, United States
</gallery>

=== Pests and diseases ===

The [[beech blight aphid]], ''Grylloprociphilus imbricator'', is a common pest of American beech trees.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beech Blight Aphid |url=https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/landscape/fact-sheets/beech-blight-aphid |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Amherst]] |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>

[[Beech bark disease]] is a fungal infection of trees in the Eastern US, Canada, and Europe. Following damage caused by the [[scale insect]]s ''[[Xylococculus betulae]]'' and ''[[Cryptococcus fagisuga]]'', the fungi ''Neonectria faginata'' and ''[[Neonectria ditissima]]'' produce cankers each year; these may eventually girdle and kill the tree.<ref name="Cale 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Cale |first1=Jonathan A. |last2=Garrison-Johnston |first2=Mariann T. |last3=Teale |first3=Stephen A. |last4=Castello |first4=John D. |title=Beech bark disease in North America: Over a century of research revisited |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |volume=394 |date=2017 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2017.03.031 |doi-access=free |pages=86–103 |bibcode=2017ForEM.394...86C }}</ref>

[[Beech leaf disease]] is a disease that affects beeches spread by the nematode ''[[Litylenchus crenatae mccannii]]''. The disease was discovered in Ohio in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last=Crowley |first=Brendan |date=2020-09-28 |title=Deadly 'Beech Leaf Disease' Identified Across Connecticut and Rhode Island |work=The Connecticut Examiner |url=https://ctexaminer.com/2020/09/28/deadly-beech-leaf-disease-identified-across-connecticut-and-rhode-island/ |access-date=2020-11-15}}</ref> It has spread through the Eastern United States and Canada.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Parratt |first1=Matt |title=Common beech – Fagus sylvatica |url=https://observatree.org.uk/media/1794/hotm-july-2023-beech.pdf |publisher=[[Forest Research]] |access-date=7 October 2025 |date=July 2023}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
The bark of the beech tree showing signs of beech bark disease. (0bfa1340-c4ae-488a-bf25-0805049ea28b).JPG|[[Beech bark disease]] indicated by white wax marks caused by [[scale insect]]s
File:Perithecia.jpg|Fruiting bodies of ''Neonectria faginata'', agent of beech bark disease
File:Litylenchus crenatae 161966913.jpg|[[Beech leaf disease]], leaf infected by ''[[Litylenchus crenatae mccannii]]''
</gallery>

== Uses ==

=== Furniture and construction ===

The European beech ''Fagus sylvatica'' yields a tough timber. It weighs about 720 kg per cubic metre and is widely used for [[furniture]] construction, flooring, plywood, and household items. The timber can be used to build chalets, houses, and log cabins.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skarvelis |first1=Michalis |last2=Mantanis |first2=George I. |title=Physical and mechanical properties of beech wood harvested in the Greek public forests |journal=Wood Research |publisher=Pulp and Paper Research Institute |volume=58 |issue=1 |date=2012-12-29 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237840835 |access-date=2024-12-24 |pages=123–130}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:Chair (backstool), England, c. 1675, carved and japanned beechwood, caned seat - Ham House - London, UK - DSC07896 (cropped).jpg|English carved and [[japanned]] beechwood chair, c. 1675
File:Desk chair MET 211351.jpg|French desk chair, beechwood with leather [[upholstery]], c. 1740–50
File:Reclining Rocking Chair (Italy), ca. 1905.jpg|Italian [[bentwood|bent]] beechwood [[rocking chair]], Antonio Volpe S.A., c. 1905
File:Hans J Wegner Wishbone Chair.jpg|[[Hans J. Wegner|Hans J Wegner]] Wishbone Chair of [[woodturning|turned]] and waxed beech, Denmark, 1949
</gallery>

=== Ornamental tree ===

The European beech, ''Fagus sylvatica'', is widely cultivated in most regions that have a suitable climate, including North and South America, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref name="IDS">{{cite web |title=Trees and Shrubs Online: Fagus sylvatica L. |url=https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/fagus/fagus-sylvatica/ |publisher=International Dendrology Society |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref> Many varieties are in cultivation, including the weeping beech ''F. sylvatica'' 'Pendula', several varieties of copper or purple beech, the fern-leaved beech ''F. sylvatica'' 'Asplenifolia',<ref>{{cite web |title=The European beech: Subspecies, varieties, forms, cultivars and cultivar groups |url=https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/trees/europeanbeech/ |website=Monumental trees |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref> and the tricolour beech ''F. sylvatica'' 'Roseomarginata'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea Tricolor' (v) |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/99417/fagus-sylvatica-purpurea-tricolor-(v)/details |publisher=[[Royal Horticultural Society]] |access-date=7 October 2025 |quote=Synonyms Fagus sylvatica 'Roseomarginata' Fagus sylvatica 'Tricolor' misapplied}}</ref> The columnar Dawyck beech (''F. sylvatica'' 'Dawyck') is named after [[Dawyck Botanic Garden]] in the Scottish Borders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/WebPressReleases/8F4ACFD1F5025FF480256DD0005AE961 |title=Borders' special trees in the spotlight |publisher=Forestry Commission |date=7 November 2003 |archive-date=2 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302041303/http://www.forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/WebPressReleases/8F4ACFD1F5025FF480256DD0005AE961 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 

The tallest beech hedge in the world, and the longest hedge in Britain, is the [[Meikleour Beech Hedges|Meikleour Beech Hedge]] in [[Perth and Kinross]], Scotland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meikleour Beech Hedge |url=https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/meikleour-beech-hedge-p2569991 |publisher=[[VisitScotland]] |access-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=180 heights=180>
File:FagusPurpurea052005.jpg|''F. sylvatica'' var ''Purpurea''
File:Fagus sylvatica 'Asplenifolia' kz2.jpg|''F. sylvatica'' var ''Asplenifolia''
File:Fagus sylvatica roseo-marginata 0zz.jpg|''F. sylvatica'' var ''Roseomarginata''
</gallery>

=== Food and food preparation ===

The fruit of the beech tree is an edible nut, known as beech mast.<ref>{{cite book |last=Little |first=Elbert L. |title=The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Western Region |publisher=Knopf |year=1994 |isbn=0-394-50761-4 |edition=Chanticleer Press |page=390 |orig-date=1980}}</ref><ref name="Lyle-2010">{{Cite book |last=Lyle |first=Katie Letcher |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants, Mushrooms, Fruits, and Nuts: How to Find, Identify, and Cook Them |publisher=[[FalconGuides]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-59921-887-8 |edition=2nd |location=Guilford, CN |page=138 |oclc=560560606 |orig-date=2004}}</ref> According to the Roman statesman [[Pliny the Elder]] in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', the fruit: "of the beech is the sweetest of all; so much so, that, according to Cornelius Alexander, the people of the city of [[Chios]], when besieged, supported themselves wholly on mast".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://interestingearth.com/how_did_beech_mast_save_the_people_of_chios.html|title=How did beech mast save the people of Chios? - Interesting Earth |website=interestingearth.com |access-date=2019-10-07}}</ref> They can also be roasted and pulverized into a [[coffee substitute]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=[[Skyhorse Publishing]] |author=[[United States Department of the Army]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-692-0 |location=New York |page=29 |oclc=277203364}}</ref>

Slats of beech wood, its flavour removed with caustic soda, are spread inside fermentation tanks for beers such as [[Budweiser]] to prevent the yeast from piling up on the bottom and possibly spoiling the beer's flavour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Oxford Companion to Beer Definition of beechwood chips |url=http://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/2mEFk1wLW0/ |access-date=2022-08-19 |website=Craft Beer & Brewing |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819065343/http://beerandbrewing.com/dictionary/2mEFk1wLW0/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Beech logs are burned to dry the [[malt]] used in German [[smoked beer]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schlenkerla.de/rauchbier/prozess/prozess.html |title=Der Brauprozeß von Schlenkerla Rauchbier |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2011 |website=Schlenkerla - die historische Rauchbierbrauerei |publisher=Schlenkerla |language=de |trans-title=The Brewing Process of Schlenkerla Smoked Beer |access-date=11 December 2020}}</ref> Beech is also used to smoke [[Westphalian ham]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/facts/guidetoham.cfm |title=GermanFoods.org - Guide to German Sausages and German Hams |access-date=2012-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123232931/http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/facts/guidetoham.cfm |archive-date=2012-11-23 }}</ref> traditional [[andouille]] (an offal sausage) from [[Normandy]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cookthink.com/reference/823/What_is_andouille |title=What is andouille? &#124; Cookthink |access-date=2012-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512015109/http://www.cookthink.com/reference/823/What_is_andouille |archive-date=2012-05-12 }}</ref> and some [[smoked cheese]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Calories in Tesco Beechwood Smoked Cheese Slices Made in Germany |url=https://freecaloriechart.uk/calories-in-tesco-beechwood-smoked-cheese-slices-made-in-germany/ |website=Free Calorie Chart UK |date=8 November 2015 |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref>

=== Other ===

[[File:Venus with a Mirror (study) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Painting ''Venus with a Mirror''. Oil and plaster on beech wood. [[Titian]], 1511]]

In antiquity, [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European people]] used beech bark as a writing material, especially in a religious context.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pronk-Tiethoff |first=Saskia |title=The Germanic loanwords in Proto-Slavic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0iWLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA81 |date=25 October 2013 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=978-94-012-0984-7 |page=81}}</ref> Beech wood tablets were a common [[writing material]] in Germanic societies before the development of paper. The Old English ''bōc''<ref>A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Second Edition (1916), [http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oe_clarkhall/b0047.html Blōtan-Boldwela], [[John Richard Clark Hall]]</ref> has the primary sense of "beech" with a secondary sense of "book".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=book |title=Book |last=Harper |first=Douglas |work=Online Etymological Dictionary |access-date=2011-11-18}}</ref>

The pigment [[bistre]] was made from beech wood [[soot]]. Beech [[Plant litter|litter]] raking was used as a replacement for straw in [[animal husbandry]] in Switzerland in the 17th century.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Three objectives of historical ecology: the case of litter collecting in Central European forests |author=Bürgi, M. |author2=Gimmi, U. |year=2007 |doi=10.1007/s10980-007-9128-0 |journal=Landscape Ecology |volume=22 |issue=S1 |pages=77–87|bibcode=2007LaEco..22S..77B |hdl=20.500.11850/58945 |s2cid=21130814 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/316425/files/10980_2007_Article_9128.pdf |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Soil carbon pools in Swiss forests show legacy effects from historic forest litter raking |author=Gimmi, U. |author2=Poulter, B. |author3=Wolf, A. |author4=Portner, H. |author5=Weber, P. |author6=Bürgi, M. |year=2013 |doi=10.1007/s10980-012-9778-4 |journal=Landscape Ecology |volume=28 |issue=5 |pages=385–846|bibcode=2013LaEco..28..835G |hdl=20.500.11850/66782 |s2cid=16930894 |url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/315772/files/10980_2012_Article_9778.pdf |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010 |author=McGrath, M.J. |year=2015 |doi=10.5194/bg-12-4291-2015 |journal=Biogeosciences |volume=12 |issue=14 |pages=4291–4316|display-authors=etal|bibcode=2015BGeo...12.4291M |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Consequence of litter removal on pedogenesis: A case study in Bachs and Irchel (Switzerland) |author=Scalenghe, R. |author2=Minoja, A.P. |author3=Zimmermann, S. |author4=Bertini, S. |year=2016 |doi=10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.02.024 |journal=Geoderma |volume=271 |pages=191–201|bibcode=2016Geode.271..191S |url=https://zenodo.org/record/889561 }}</ref> Beech is one of the 38 plants whose flowers are used to prepare [[Bach flower remedies]].<ref name="Vohra-2004">{{cite book |last=Vohra |first=D. S. |title=Bach Flower Remedies: A Comprehensive Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=icG8onA0ys8C&pg=PR3 |access-date=2 September 2013|date=1 June 2004 |publisher=B. Jain Publishers |isbn=978-81-7021-271-3 |page=3}}</ref> Beech makes an excellent [[firewood]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The burning properties of wood |url=http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs315001.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223202805/http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs315001.pdf |archive-date=23 December 2012 |access-date=26 July 2013 |work=Scoutbase (Scout Information Centre) |publisher=Scout Association}}</ref> 
Some [[drum shell]]s are made from beech.<ref>{{cite web |title=1987 Snare Drums |url=https://www.sonormuseum.com/1987/snares/snares.html |website=Sonor Museum |access-date=6 October 2025}}</ref>
The textile [[Modal (textile)|modal]] is a kind of [[rayon]] often made wholly from [[cellulose]] extracted from pulped beech wood.<ref>holistic-interior-designs.com, ''[http://www.holistic-interior-designs.com/modal-fabric.html Modal Fabric] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009010337/http://www.holistic-interior-designs.com/modal-fabric.html |date=2011-10-09 }}'', retrieved 9 October 2011</ref><ref>uniformreuse.co.uk, ''[http://www.uniformreuse.co.uk/fabric_modal.html?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=460&width=800 Modal data sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024015844/http://www.uniformreuse.co.uk/fabric_modal.html?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=460&width=800 |date=2011-10-24 }}'', retrieved 9 October 2011</ref><ref>fabricstockexchange.com, ''[http://www.fabricstockexchange.com/blog/resources/fiber-dictionary/ Modal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925102655/http://fabricstockexchange.com/blog/resources/fiber-dictionary/ |date=2011-09-25 }}'' (dictionary entry), retrieved 9 October 2011</ref>

In [[Gallo-Roman religion]], ''Fagus'' (Latin for "beech") was a god known from four inscriptions found in the [[Hautes-Pyrénées]].<ref>Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Paris: Editions Errance. {{ISBN|2-87772-200-7}}.</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe]]
* [[English Lowlands beech forests]]
* [[Weeping Beech (Queens)]]

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

{{Commons category|Fagus|beeches}}

{{Wikispecies|Fagus|''Fagus''}}
{{Wiktionary|beech}}

* {{cite web |url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/ |title=WCSP |work= World Checklist of Selected Plant Families – Fagus}}
* {{cite web |last=Eichhorn |first=Markus |title=The Beech Tree |url=http://www.test-tube.org.uk/trees/video_beech.htm |work=Test Tube |publisher=[[Brady Haran]] for the [[University of Nottingham]] |date=October 2010 |ref=none}}
* [https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/beech-fagus-sylvatica Traditional and Modern Use of Beech]

{{Nuts}}
{{Woodworking}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q25403|from2=Q14920699}}
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[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]
[[Category:Fagus| ]]
[[Category:Ornamental trees]]