HLC-08
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American Beech (Fagus americana)
Common Name: American Beech
Scientific Name: Fagus americana
Other Names:
Leaf: Simple, alternate; long oval; 10-15cm long; pairs of straight parallel veins; like notepad paper to the touch.
Flower: Yellowish green, in ball-like clusters; male and femail on same tree; white or just after leaves unfold.
Fruit: Shiny brown edible nuts, 2cm triangular, with concave sides; usually in twos or threes, within a brown husk with fuzzy, soft, curved red-tipped prickles.
Twig: Slender, shiny, smooth, mahogany brown, slightly zigzag with tiny lenticels; buds golden brown.
Bark: Steel gray, smooth, thin on both young and old trees.
Wood: Very heavy, hard, stiff, strong; impact resistant but not decay resistant.
Facts About This Tree:
1. American beech lives 300 years.
2. In the past beech wood served as writing material, so many early European languages equated the words beech and book.
3. They are a little fussy with soil moisture preference (moist but well-drained soil) that a few weeks of flooding can cause death.
4. Traditionally, ground, roasted beech nuts were used as a coffee substitute, or the oil was extracted and used as both food and lamp oil.
5. Beech nuts are an important wildlife food for both mammals and birds such as squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, black bears, blue jays and woodpeckers.
Lat, Long: 43.73793, -79.78458
Diameter (DBH): 33.6 cm
Last Year Modified: 2015
Carbon Stored in this Tree: 335.601 kg of C
Equivalent CO2: 1230.414 kg of C
Find more trees in Heart Lake Conservation Area.
Reference
1. Blouin, Glen. 2001. An Eclectic Guide to Trees East of the Rockies. Erin, ON. Boston Mills Press
2. Petrides George A. 1998. A Field Guide to Eastern Trees: Eastern United States and Canada, Second Edition. NY. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. Ministry of Natural Resources. 2013. The Tree Atlas. Retrieved from http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/ClimateChange/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_101493.html
4. Photo Credit: Kathryn Chin; Natural Resources Canada
Copyright 2015 Association for Canadian Educational Resources
Abundant wildlife can be viewed within Heart Lake Conservation Area. Species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, pollinators and insects abound within the area throughout all seasons. The meadow plots located in the “bowl” and near the Medicine Wheel Garden (Gitigaan Mashkiki), bee condos and bird structures have been installed to provide habitat for wildlife. This additional habitat is important due to natural area depletion as a result of urbanization.
