European Beech
- Botanical Name
- Fagus sylvatica
- Hardiness
- Zones 4 to 7
- Height
- 50 to 60 feet
- Width
- 35 to 45 feet
- Flowers
- April or May: Monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same tree), not of ornamental importance
- Fruit
- Four-lobed husk covered with bristles containing 2 triangular nuts
- Fall Color
- Golden bronze
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic
- Planting & Care
- Transplant as balled and burlap in early spring
- Problems
- None serious if sited correctly
- Varieties
- Tricolor - variegated leaves of purple, pink and cream; provide some shade to prevent leaf scorch
- Tortuosa - contorted trunk and branches, 15'
- Purple Fountain - weeping, purple foliage, slow growing
- Asplenifolia - lacy leaves, deeply cut lobes
- Purpurea - once called the Copper Beech, dark purple leaf out with leaves maturing to dark green, bronzy-green fall color
- Fastigiata - upright, fastigiate form, green leaves
- Red Obelisk - upright, fastigiate form, red leaves
- Dawyck Gold - upright, fastigiate form, yellow leaves
- Riversii - dark purple leaves, almost black when emerging, holds color all summer
- Rohanii - vigorous grower, reddish purple leaves when emerging, maturing to brownish-purple, crisped margins (kinky hairs on edge of leaf, visible early season)
- Rotundifolia - small 1-inch leaves with 2 to 4 pairs of veins, round to vase-shaped form
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