Also called North American beech.
Native to 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇺🇸 USA Midwest, East and South.
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
Fagus hosts caterpillars of 126 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
Leaves may be bronze-color in autumn. Found in climax forests, with birch and 🍁︎ maple. Famous for people carving their initials in this "initial tree". Beech nuts are high in protein and fat, and are important food for 🐦︎ birds, deer, bear, fox, squirrel, chipmunk, mice and feral hogs. Beech leaves and twigs provide food for
white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus
late in the season, when there is very little else available.