Stats

Lifespan: Up to 300 yrs
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate deciduous forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Armor
Status: Common

About

The American beech is a large deciduous hardwood of eastern North American forests, instantly recognisable by its exceptionally smooth, silver-gray bark that stays unmarred even on trees hundreds of years old — unlike nearly all other temperate hardwoods whose bark fissures with age. Its small, oil-rich nuts, enclosed in spiky husks, are a critical mast crop for black bears, wild turkeys, and over forty other wildlife species.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Fagaceae
Genus: Fagus
Species: Fagus grandifolia