Content
- These features help you recognize a beech
- Characteristics for the determination of beech
- The height of a beech
- Beech trees have a smooth trunk
- This is what beech leaves look like
- Beech leaves in autumn
- Book need a sheltered location
- Tips
Beech trees are quite easy to recognize by their unusual leaf shape
These features help you recognize a beech
No deciduous tree is so frequently represented in German forests and parks as beech, also known as beech. Because of their similarity with the hornbeam belonging to the birch trees, it is often confused with this. You recognize a book by these special features.
Characteristics for the determination of beech
There are some distinctive features that can be used to define a beech. The color of the foliage is not one of them. Beech trees have green leaves, although they are also called beech. Only blood beech are recognizable by their red leaves.
A book can be recognized by the following points:
The height of a beech
A full-grown beech can reach 40 to 45 meters. A hornbeam is only half as high. The crown of the beech is very even and expansive, while a hornbeam looks slightly crippled.
Beech trees have a smooth trunk
Young beeches initially have a dark green, almost black stem. Over time, it brightens and gets a silver-gray color.
In contrast to a hornbeam, the beech trunk looks much smoother. The bark is very thin and only a few cracks.
This is what beech leaves look like
Beech leaves are up to ten inches long. Their shape is oval, egg-shaped. At the edges, the leaves are only slightly jagged, in contrast to the hornbeam, in which the spikes are pronounced.
Beech leaves are traversed by a few veins and appear smooth.
Beech leaves in autumn
Probably the clearest feature of the beech is its beautiful autumn leaves. The leaves will turn into a bright orange color from October. The color is particularly intense in mid-November.
Most types of beech trees have their foliage for a very long time, although they are deciduous trees. Often the leaves hang on the tree until next spring. They are then dried up and have a brown color.
The autumn leaves of the hornbeam, on the other hand, turn yellow.
Book need a sheltered location
Beech trees are usually found in sheltered areas in the forest. In southern Germany there are considerably more beeches than in northern Germany.
Tips
In contrast to the fruits of the beech, the nuts of the hornbeam are not poisonous. Since both fruits differ in appearance, there is no risk of confusion.