European beech
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Sometimes known as the ‘queen of British trees’, the European beech is one of the most common trees in parks, forests and woodlands across Britain.
Beech woodlands, with their dense canopies and ground layer of fallen leaves, provide a home for rarer plant species.
This can include orchids such as the bird’s-nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis) and the red helleborine (Cephalanthera rubra).
The leaf litter also provides a veritable buffet for a variety of fungi species, including various species of Cantharellus and Agaricus.
Beech wood tablets were commonly used for writing prior to the invention of paper, so much so that the Old English word for the tree boc gave us the modern word ‘book’.
Plant description
The average European beech tree grows between 25 to 35 metres tall and around 1.5m across in the trunk. The bark is smooth and grey, with ‘cracks’ appearing in older trees. In forested areas, trees will grow taller with higher branches, whereas in the open, the trees are shorter but with wider reaching branches and leaves.
The leaves are oval, light green in colour, have distinctive diagonal banding patterns and feature small hairs which they lose as they age and darken in colour. In late spring, flowers grow by the leaves in light brown tassels. The fruits are brown with hairy, cup-like seeds that split apart when dry to reveal beechnuts.
Plant uses
Cultural
Known as the ‘queen of British trees’, beech trees are associated with femininity in pagan tradition.
Food and drink
Beechnuts can be eaten raw or roasted and ground as a coffee substitute.
Beech wood has been used to smoke herring, and is still used today to smoke cheeses and meats.
Materials and fuels
Beech wood is a popular wood used in the making of furniture and flooring.
Beech wood is considered one of the better firewoods.
Beechnuts historically were fed to pigs as a low-cost feed.
Beech is planted as a hedging plant in parks and gardens, due to its leaves providing cover all year round.
Did you know?
A beech in Hagg Wood, Derbyshire, believed to be the tallest native tree in the UK, was measured at 45 metres in 2018. The UK’s thickest tree, the Plas Newydd Beech on Anglesey, has a trunk circumference of 10 metres.
While the beech is not counted as an evergreen tree, the leaves can remain on the branches until spring, especially if the trees are young.
As a popular ornamental, there are a number of cultivars of beech, including dwarf beech (Tortuosa) and weeping beech (Pendula), the latter of which can be seen at Kew Gardens.
The genus name Fagus comes from the Latin for beech, while the species name sylvatica comes from the Latin ‘silvanus’, meaning ‘of the forest’
Where in the world?
Found all across Europe, in humid atmospheres and well-drained soil, such as chalk or limestone.
Find it in our gardens
Kew Gardens
A botanic garden in southwest London with the world’s most diverse living plant collection.
Location
Arboretum, and across Kew Gardens
View map of Kew GardensBest time to see
Wakehurst
Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex that has over 500 acres of plants from around the world and is home to the Millennium Seed Bank.
Location
Bethlehem Wood, and across Wakehurst
View map of Wakehurst
