European beech: description. Decoration of the forest - the majestic beech tree
Beech is a powerful, straight-trunked tree reaching a height of fifty meters, with a dense crown that almost does not allow sunlight to pass through, with a smooth light gray trunk bark. Three types of beech grow in Russia: large-leaved, forest and oriental. Beech is a long-lived tree; meeting a five-hundred-year-old specimen in its thickets is common. The operational and forestry significance of this tree is enormous. Beech wood has a beautiful pattern, white with a yellowish-red tint, light, not much inferior in strength to oak.
When the trees stand alone, thanks to their widely spread branches and dense foliage, they form a spreading, dense tent, through which even the rays of the southern sun do not penetrate. They respond well to cutting and shaping and can be used to create tall hedges, walls and curly shapes.
By its appearance and biological features It occupies the same place among deciduous species as spruce among conifers. In terms of crown density and shade tolerance, it is not inferior to spruce and fir. The genus includes 9 species, distributed in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere.
Photo: Gilles Douaire
The fruit of the beech tree is a triangular shiny brown nut, slightly larger in size than a sunflower seed (a hundred beech nuts weigh no more than 20 grams). At favorable conditions Growing from one hectare of beech grove, you can get several million nuts containing a whole storehouse of nutrients - vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, tanning agents, organic acids. Beech nuts are not inferior in taste to pine nuts and are a real delicacy for wild animals and birds. People use pre-roasted beech nuts for food because they contain a potent substance - fagin. fresh their use is not recommended.
Beech oil is of great value; it is not inferior in quality to expensive almond and olive oils. Beech oil has a pleasant light yellow tint and is successfully used in the confectionery, canning industry, bakery, medicine and perfumery, and various branches of technology. Cake - a waste product from oil production, rich in protein, is fed to farm animals and poultry.
Beech leaves contain a large amount of tannins and vitamin K; they are successfully used in traditional medicine to treat gastrointestinal diseases and to stop internal bleeding - in the form of decoctions and infusions.
The role of beech in the history and mythology of various ethnic groups is noteworthy. Many traditions consider it a symbol ancient knowledge, majesty, prosperity, victory and perseverance. It was told to the supreme gods - Perun, Zeus, Jupiter. Planted near the house in two, it will maintain energy balance and good relations among the inhabitants. In a number of languages of the Germanic group, the name of the tree coincides with the word book. Indeed, ancient runes were written on wooden sticks made from beech, and our ancestors learned to read and write on similar beech tablets covered with wax.
Properties of beech wood
Beech wood mountainous areas considered to be of higher quality. The density of beech wood is about 700kg/m3. The wood is quite hard and dense, but is susceptible to rotting, so it is not recommended to use it outdoors. Sapwood and heartwood are almost indistinguishable in color. In the sun it darkens and acquires a reddish tint. The texture of the wood is especially clearly visible in radial and tangential sections. Beech materials come in a variety of shades, from light to reddish yellow. Beech wood lends itself well to processing and sands well. Beech makes excellent veneer. But, since beech wood is quite hygroscopic, large fluctuations in humidity and temperature in the room where beech lumber is stored should not be allowed. Beech wood is even superior to oak wood in some respects. After drying, beech becomes stronger than oak. Currently, beech is one of the most popular and sought-after lumber, possessing exceptional beauty and strength.
The drying process is much faster, and there are significantly fewer cracks. After drying, most indicators improve; a dry beech board becomes stronger than oak when bending, surpasses it in rigidity and shear resistance by 20% and is significantly stronger under impact loads. Beech boards are an excellent material for interior finishing work. Typically, a dry board is processed without complications and gives a smooth surface. Easy to chip, saw and process hand tools. Easily glued, bent, etched with dyes. Used for making musical instruments, plywood. Stairs and parquet are also made from beech boards. Beech produces excellent veneer.
The wood chemical industry uses beech wood to produce methyl alcohol, acetone, furfural - a substance that is the raw material for the production of many medicines, xylitol - a sugar substitute, tar and creosote - a disinfectant that is used in medicine and in construction to protect wood from rotting. In pharmaceutical practice, creosote is used in the treatment of skin diseases, as a potent disinfectant, as well as against tapeworms, for putrefactive processes in the lungs and bronchi, for abnormal fermentation phenomena in the stomach and intestines - orally in the form of tablets, gelatin capsules and others. dosage forms, masking the unpleasant odor of creosote.
Main types of beech
Beech, or European beech. Large tree with a slender trunk and a powerful ovoid crown from 25 to 30 or 40 m high and up to 15 m wide. The branches of forest beech are arched or arranged horizontally. The leaves of forest beech are large, elliptical, slightly wavy along the edges, shiny, leathery, dark green in summer and very impressively colored in autumn - in yellow and copper tones. In nature, forest beech grows in Europe, including in Russia, Western Ukraine and Belarus.
Eastern beech. Tree up to 40 (50) m tall with a wide rounded or ovoid crown. Eastern beech is close in appearance to forest beech, but differs from it in its more rounded crown and larger, longer leaves. In nature, eastern beech grows in the Caucasus, Crimea, and northern Asia Minor.
Large-leaved beech. Tree up to 30-40 m tall with bluish-gray bark and pyramidal crown. The leaves of large-leaved beech are bright, bluish-green, oval or oblong, pointed. The homeland of the plants is North America.
Beech (FAGUS) is a majestic deciduous tree from the Beech family, which, due to its characteristics and decorativeness, occupies an important place among hardwood. A beech tree growing separately spreads its branches widely, forming a tent that cannot be penetrated by sun rays. Beech forest hike to the colonnade, where silence and darkness reign. Beech grows in the Northern Hemisphere and has 9 species. Grows up to 45 m in height.
Beech is a beautiful tree
The tree trunk is powerful, smooth, covered with light gray bark. The branches are densely leafy, the crown is dense, cylindrical, rounded at the top.
The leaves are alternate, arranged in 2 rows. Their shape is elliptical, the veins are feathery, the edges are solid, slightly wavy. Slightly hairy underneath. The beautiful dark green color of the foliage changes to straw yellow or bronze in autumn.
Flowers are collected in inflorescences and appear simultaneously with the blossoming of leaves. Flowers different genders: staminate have 8-12 stamens and are collected in capitate inflorescences, pistillate are collected in 2-4 and are surrounded by a plus, which grows and becomes woody as the fruits ripen.
The fruit-nuts are triangular, with sharp edges. The shell is thin, brown, shiny. Each nut contains 1-2 seeds.
How to care for beech
Beech has high shade tolerance and grows in both partial shade and sun. This tree is heat-loving, especially its decorative forms, so in areas of harsh climates you should choose protected places for planting. Beech loves humid air, does not tolerate drought well, so it needs watering. But it is undemanding to the soil: it grows on wet and dry, somewhat fertile soils, both slightly acidic and alkaline.
It prefers loam and the presence of lime, so it is useful, according to the site, to carry out liming. For good growth the soil is fertilized, more details can be found in. Very sensitive to pollution and salinity.
Where is beech used?
Beech is a tree that lends itself well to cutting and shaping. 'Cause he is the most valuable plant when creating high hedges, green walls, which look very impressive. Recreation areas are created under the beech tree, thanks to its ability to provide dense shade. Different varieties of beech with beautiful leaf colors are used to create compositions with other deciduous trees, as well as with coniferous trees.
Beech wood is used in the manufacture of musical instruments, furniture and other products.
Common types of beech
Eastern beech (F. orientalis Lipsky) grows in the Crimea, the Caucasus, the east of the Balkan Peninsula, and the north of Asia Minor. It grows in rich soils and can form both pure beech forests and forests mixed with other deciduous species. Very shade-tolerant and very thermophilic. It grows up to 50 m. At an altitude of 2000 m it grows in the form of large bushes. It differs from forest beech in its more rounded crown, as well as large elongated leaves and a slightly different structure of perianths.
Beech is a long-lived plant, it can live up to half a century.
They are usually planted in the spring with seeds, the fruits of which are stored in semi-moist sand.
Germination persists throughout the year. They are also propagated by shoots and green cuttings, but the rooting rate is much lower - 12%. The first three years it grows slowly, then the pace accelerates. It tolerates rejuvenating pruning well and produces good growth from the stump.
The wood is white, with a yellowish tint. Low resistance to rotting. It is used in the furniture industry for floor coverings. Tar, methyl alcohol, acetic acid, and charcoal are also produced from it. Young leaves have a mild taste and are added to salads.
Forest beech is also called European beech (F. sylvatica L). It grows in Western Ukraine, Belarus, Western Europe. Forms both pure beech forests on slopes at an altitude of up to one and a half thousand meters above sea level, also mixed with broad-leaved trees. Very shade tolerant.
This species is distinguished by a slender trunk up to 30 m high and a powerful egg-shaped crown.
The trunk is covered with light gray bark, the young branches are reddish-brown. The large leaves are elliptical in shape, leathery, shiny, slightly wavy at the edges. They are very impressively painted in autumn in bright colors from yellow to copper. Female and male flowers are located separately on the branches. The fruits - triangular nuts - are dressed in plush.
European beech grows slowly, old trees get sick. Does not tolerate frost well, requires protected warm place. This breed forms beautiful hedges and walls. It can grow in sun and partial shade and can be combined with various deciduous ornamental trees. Does not like compacted soils, large changes in water level, or waterlogging. Long-lived, age reaches 400 years. It grows quite quickly, the growth in a year can be 50 cm. It is usually propagated by seeds, but cuttings take root poorly.
The fruits are slightly poisonous, as they contain large quantities of oxalic acid. The seeds are edible, have a pleasant sweetish taste, and are consumed boiled or raw. Leaves that are not roughened can be added to salads and have a mild taste. The bark has pharmaceutical properties: antipyretic, antiseptic, expectorant, helps with toothache.
Large-leaved beech (F. grandifolia Ehrh.) grows in eastern North America at low elevations, usually alongside other conifers and hardwoods.
Prefers soils that are moist, rich, and have a high humus content. It is highly winter-hardy, unlike other species, but young plants need to be covered. Loves wet soils.
Giant Beech (video)
The leaves of this species are beautiful: elliptical, pointed, silky. In summer they are bluish-green, dark, rich in color, and light green below. In autumn they turn red-brown. Like other species, it is shade-tolerant and unpretentious. Well suited for creating hedges and walls.
Botanical name: Beech (Fagus sylvatica) or European beech, genus Beech, family Beech.
Homeland of beech: Northern Hemisphere.
Lighting: photophilous.
Soil: sod-podzolic, podzolic, acidic, calcareous.
Watering: abundant.
Maximum tree height: 50 m.
Average lifespan of a tree: up to 500 years.
Landing: seeds.
Description of the beech tree and its photo
A large deciduous spreading tree with light gray bark. Reaches up to 50 m in height.
The trunk is columnar, 1.5 m in diameter. Centuries-old trees have a trunk diameter of about 3 m. The crown is ovoid or broadly cylindrical, raised high above the ground.
The branches are thin and spread out. The maximum crown area is 315 square meters. Beech begins to bear fruit at the age of 20-40, in plantations from 60-80 years. Gives growth for about 350 years. IN good conditions lives up to 500 years, sometimes longer. Young shoots are light brown, with whitish lentils. The bark on young beech trees is gray-brown, on adults it is gray, smooth and thin, which is distinctive feature tree throughout its life.
The root system is powerful and shallow. There is no clearly defined tap root. The roots of neighboring trees in a forest often intertwine or grow together. In older individuals they grow greatly, which is why they are called “root claws”. The shoots are renewed from the stump at the age of 30-60 years.
The buds are long-pointed, 1.5 - 3 cm in length. The scales are red-brown or light brown, sharp, numerous, pubescent at the apex.
Beech leaves are arranged alternately, in two rows, and the petioles are pubescent. The shape of the leaves is elliptical, broadly pointed, 4-10 cm long, 2.5-7 cm wide. The leaves are light green in color, turning yellow in the fall and later brown.
Flowers are dioecious. They bloom when the leaves bloom.
The fruit is a triangular nut with sharp ribs, 1-1.6 cm long, with a thin, brown, shiny shell. Each nut contains 1-2 seeds. Ripens in August-September. They fall off from October to November. The usual yield of a beech tree is up to 8 kg of nuts per tree. Abundant yields are repeated after 10-12 years. Beech fruits are considered valuable food raw materials. They are collected when they are fully ripe. The nut kernel contains fatty oils, nitrogenous substances, vitamin tocopherol, organic acids, starch, sugar, fiber, guaiacol, and cresols.
Beech tree: beneficial properties
Beech has been known since ancient times for its unique properties. The fruits, leaves and bark of the tree are of great value.
Its nuts taste qualities are not inferior to cedar trees, serve as food for forest animals and birds, and are healthy treat for a person. People use processed, fried fruits for food because they contain large amounts of the potent substance fagin, which is harmful to human health. They cannot be consumed fresh. Beech nut oil is not inferior in value and properties to olive and almond oil. It has a light yellow tint and is used in confectionery, canning, baking, as well as in medicine, perfumery and various technical industries. The cakes are rich in protein and serve as feed for farm animals. Beech leaves contain vitamin K and tannins. For many years they have been used in folk medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
Hard and dense beech wood is easy to sand and process. High-quality veneer is made from it. In terms of its properties, beech wood is superior to oak wood, therefore it is a fairly popular raw material with strength, durability and aesthetic appearance. It dries quite quickly, leaving almost no cracks. A dry board lends itself well to processing, after which it acquires a perfectly smooth surface. Used for external and interior decoration premises, production of musical instruments, plywood, parquet, stairs and much more. In the forest chemical industry, the wood of this tree is used to obtain methyl alcohol, acetone and furfural, which are included in medications. Xelite is also obtained from it - a sugar substitute, tar and creosote, used in construction and medicine.
Where does the beech tree grow?
Beech, a photo of which can be seen on this page, grows in Europe, in Russia, Western Ukraine, and Belarus. The tree is unpretentious, grows on any soil, prefers loamy substrates. Warm and moisture-loving, in harsh conditions freezes slightly.
Pests and diseases of beech
Beech tree unfavorable conditions susceptible to fungal diseases. Greatest danger represents white marble rot, trunk cancer, seedling rot, white peripheral rot of roots. There are leaf-eating, leaf-mining, skeletonizing, fruit-damaging pests that spoil seedlings and young growths of plants. The main pests are insects, pine beetles and mushrooms, as well as birds and mammals that consume beech bark and leaves.
Use of beech wood
Beech wood is an excellent material for making furniture; it is used in construction, carriage building and mechanical engineering. Tar is obtained from beech trees by distillation. Firewood from it is intended for heating the fireplace. Beech ash is used in glass production. Potash and lye are obtained from it, which are necessary in the household for washing and cleaning. Beech wood, along with birch wood, is considered the most accessible raw material for paper production. In some countries, beech chips are needed for smoking sausages. In cosmetology, beech bud extract is used, which is part of anti-aging skin care products. Beech tar has found its use in folk medicine to treat skin diseases and rheumatism. Some medicines contain cresol, extracted from the nuts of this plant.
Description
Tree height is up to 30 m, trunk diameter is up to 2 m.
The trunk is smooth, covered with a thin layer of gray bark.
The leaves are deciduous, simple, entire or with sparse serrations, oval or oval-oblong, 5-15 cm long and 4-10 cm wide.
In beech, which has a dense crown of entire leaves, the upper branches shade the lower ones so much that the latter, not having the light necessary for photosynthesis, gradually die and fall off.
As a result, the beech tree in the forest is devoid of branches almost to the very top, and its crown is supported, as it were, by bare pillars. This property is characteristic of all species of the Beech genus, as well as of many other trees growing in close formation.
The buds are elongated (often more than 2.5 cm), scaly, and appear in winter.
Flowering in spring, simultaneously with the unfolding of leaves. The flowers are unisexual, collected in catkins, and pollinated by the wind.
U single standing trees Fruiting occurs after 20-40 years, and in groups after 60 years and later.
The fruits are acorn-shaped, triangular, 10-15 mm long, with a woody shell, collected in pairs or four pieces in a 4-lobed shell called a plus.
The fruits are sometimes called "beechnuts" - they are edible, although they contain large amounts of bitter-tasting tannin and may contain the poisonous alkaloid fagin, which decomposes when roasted.
Beeches grow slowly, but live up to 400 years or more.
Shade-tolerant, heat-loving, grows best in loamy soil.
Beech trees usually reproduce by seeds, although the plant is shallow and branched. root system sometimes it produces lateral shoots from which a young tree can grow.
Spreading
Distributed in temperate zone Europe, Asia and North America. These are one of the most common trees in Europe. In the mountains they grow at altitudes of up to 2300 m above sea level. Often dominate deciduous and mixed forests.
The most widespread are Beech in Eurasia and large-leaved beech in North America. Engler's beech grows wild in China, its height reaches 20 m, and the trunk is divided into several branches forming a wide oval crown.
Similar trunk shape in two endemics Japanese islands: Japanese blue and jagged (height up to 30 m) beeches. Mexican beech, as you might guess from the name, comes from Mexico - a tall (up to 40 m) tree with wedge-shaped leaves, used in wood processing.
Some types Southern Hemisphere, previously classified as beeches, are now separated into separate families of Nothophagaceae and the genus Nothofagus. These plants are native to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America.
On the territory of the Russian Federation, in addition to forest, it also grows Eastern beech- its natural habitat is in the Caucasus and Crimea.
Paleobotanical information
At the beginning of the Tertiary period, forests with beech, making up the so-called Turgai flora, were distributed from the Urals and the Aral Sea (even Bashkiria) to Sakhalin and Kamchatka. They covered most of Canada, Alaska and southern part Greenland.
The Turgai flora replaced the large-leaved flora of the Early Paleogene due to cooling, as it was more adapted to existence in conditions of a moderately warm, humid climate.
At the end of the Oligocene and Miocene, the Turgai flora in Eurasia spread to the south and southwest, gradually displacing the subtropical flora. In the Oligocene, the Turgai flora completely conquered the high latitudes, where then, due to further cooling, it was quickly replaced by a more temperate flora.
It has disappeared from most of the Boreal region, replaced by a flora consisting of conifers and small-leaved trees tree species and various herbaceous plants that form the basis of modern vegetation of the Euro-Siberian and Atlantic-North American regions.
The Turgai flora survived until the end of the Neogene in the south of Central and Eastern Europe, in the northeast of China, the Korean peninsula, Japan and the Appalachians.
In the Eopleistocene, during the climatic optimum phase, forests dominated by pine, which included many deciduous species, including beech, were widespread in the basins of the middle Volga and lower Kama.
Beech is present in Eopleistocene deposits in the territories of the Northern Caspian region, the Northern Black Sea region and the Lower Don, Bashkiria and the Middle Volga region, the middle Dnieper basin, and the upper Neman basin.
Beech was part of the Pliocene flora in Florida and southern Alabama. Since it was not found in earlier deposits, it can be assumed that it migrated here from more northern regions America due to cold weather.
In Scotland and Ireland, the Turgai flora has existed since the Eocene. The Turgai flora was transformed through evolution into modern flora deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere.
Fossil remains show a very wide and uniform distribution beech in the Northern Hemisphere in the Miocene. According to other data, the presence of beech in Europe was established to be no younger than the Middle Pliocene.
During the Ice Age, beech, along with other heat-loving plants, retreated to the south and survived only in a few refugia. During interglacial periods, when warming occurred, beech came out of its refugia and occupied nearby territories.
During the warmest interglacial periods, deciduous forests including beech occupied almost all of Central Europe.
Paleobotanical finds also indicate the presence of beech in the middle part European Russia during the Mindel-Ris interglacial era, the climate in which was warmer and wetter than today.
Paleobotanical evidence suggests a North Pacific origin for beech species.
Most of them remain in East Asia and only large-leaved beech, native to North America, and European beech are lost from the Eurasian range.
Eastern beech, having more early origins Compared to European beech - Tertiary period, preserved in the near-Black Sea refugium.
Crimean beech, which serves as a connecting link between these two species, is common in places where eastern and European beech meet.
Application and Use
Some types of beech trees (especially cultivated varieties of forest beech) are widely used as green spaces. When constructing artificial landscapes, both single plantings and large tracts in parks and forest parks are used.
Due to their dense foliage and resistance to shaping, beech trees are often used to build hedges.
Beech forests - buchins - have an important resort and aesthetic value. There are many sanatoriums, holiday homes, and children's camps located in them. Their role is extremely important in maintaining clean air and water sources and protecting soils from erosion.
Beech forests help convert surface water flow into subsurface water, ensure uniform flow of precipitation into rivers, and protect natural and artificial reservoirs from silting.
Observations have shown that under the canopy of a beech forest, even on steep slopes, surface runoff, and therefore soil erosion, is small. Through the roots, plants release various organic and inorganic substances into the soil, which help increase its fertility.
Wood
Beech wood is often used to make various products: musical instruments, in particular guitars, plywood, parquet, wooden containers, weaving shuttles, gun stocks, measuring instruments etc.
Steam-treated beech bends easily. This feature allows the use of beech wood in the furniture industry in the manufacture of Viennese chairs and rounded parts.
Beech chips are used to brew Budweiser beer.
Beech wood is white with a yellowish-red tint (over time it becomes pinkish-brown), dense, heavy, resistant to moisture (but very deformed when humidity changes), and polishes well and easily.
It does not last long outdoors and is therefore only used indoors.
Acetic acid, tar, creosote oils, and methyl alcohol are obtained from beech wood.
Nutritional and feed value
The nuts produce high quality edible oil light yellow in color, slightly inferior to Provençal. It is used in the food and confectionery industry. Industrial oil is obtained by another processing method.
The remaining mass after pressing is used to make a coffee surrogate, and when boiled, it is used as feed for farm animals. Willingly eat beech nuts forest creatures: wild boars, roe deer, squirrels, etc.
Nuts are very nutritious: they contain up to 50 percent oil, and in addition, proteins, sugars, apple and citric acid, vitamin E.
Residents of those places where a lot grows beech trees, make flour from peeled and necessarily roasted nuts. Adding to it small quantity wheat flour, bake excellent pancakes, pancakes, crumbly cookies.
In some places (in the Caucasus, in the Carpathians), beech flour is used for baking ordinary bread. This addition significantly improves its taste.
In addition, roasted beech seeds are used as a folk delicacy in the Caucasus - just like sunflower seeds in Russia.
Interesting facts
The word beech became part of the toponym Bukovina and Buchenwald
In disputes about the location of the ancestral home of the Slavs, the beech argument was put forward, according to which the word beech was borrowed by the Slavs from German language(the modern German name for beech is Buche), which means that the ancestral home of the Slavs lay in the forest zone outside beech habitat, that is, east of the Kaliningrad - Odessa line.
However, the ranges of certain plants and animals may change over time, so this argument, as well as the conclusions that flow from it, are not necessarily true or accurate.
Since at the time the Slavs were identified as a separate ethnic group, the beech range could have been limited to some more western or more southern “line”, modern border its range is not necessarily decisive when searching for the ancestral home of the Slavs.
Classification
According to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew website, the genus contains 11 species:
Fagus chienii W.C.Cheng
Fagus crenata Blume - Serrated beech
Fagus engleriana Seemen - Engler's Beech
Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. - Large-leaved beech
Fagus hayatae Palib. - Taiwanese beech
Fagus japonica Maxim. - Japanese beech
Fagus longipetiolata Seemen - Long-petiolate beech, or South Chinese beech
Fagus lucida Rehder & E.H.Wilson - Shining Beech
Fagus orientalis Lipsky - Eastern beech, or Caucasian beech
Fagus sylvatica L. typus - European beech or European beech
Fagus ×taurica Popl. - Crimean beech, a hybrid of forest beech (Fagus sylvatica) and eastern beech (Fagus orientalis).
I consider it necessary to plant several types of Beech trees in the eco-park - everything will depend on the possibility of purchasing seedlings and their price. Monitoring prices for Beech seedlings has discouraged me from buying them.
I think the most suitable for the eco-park is European / European beech (Fagus sylvatica)
Grows wildly in Western Europe, Western Ukraine and Belarus, where it forms pure and mixed forests.
A tall tree up to 30 m tall, with a slender trunk and a powerful ovoid crown. The bark of young branches is reddish-brown, the trunks are light gray and smooth.
The leaves are large, up to 10 cm long, elliptical, slightly wavy along the edge, shiny, leathery, dark green in summer and very impressively colored in autumn, from yellow to copper tones. Male and female flowers are located separately on the shoots.
The fruit is a triangular nut up to 1.5 cm long, covered with a plus, covered with awl-shaped outgrowths. It grows slowly, is very shade-tolerant, thermophilic (especially decorative forms), demanding of air humidity, does not tolerate drought, and develops well on calcareous soils. Lives up to 500 years, but old trees are usually diseased.
Propagated by seeds, layering, summer cuttings.
One of the most valuable species for green construction. It is used to create powerful groups and arrays in parks and forest parks, in single plantings in clearings. Forms beautiful trimmed hedges and walls.
In culture for a very long time. It goes well with white fir, hooked pine, common spruce, yew, hemlock, junipers, birches, plane trees, hornbeam, rowan trees, oaks, hazel, euonymus, rose rugosa, etc.
Beech can grow in both partial shade and sun. Frost resistance is low. In the conditions of the Moscow region it freezes slightly and requires a warm, protected place.
There is an opinion that
In terms of precipitation, the Moscow region is at the limit of Buk's survival rate.
Therefore, it is necessary to plant Beech seeds in places where Beech seedlings are guaranteed not to lack moisture.
Besides,
The high adaptability of Beech is evidenced by the huge total habitat occupied by its varieties.
From all that has been said, one can conclude next output: absence today beech forests V central Russia- the fault of natural history, the lack of the ability of this species to quickly disperse (lack of flying seeds), as well as human disinterest or ignorance.
Because climatic restrictions for the growth of Beech in forests near Moscow missing or about to be removed.
Given the high value of beech wood, it makes sense to actively engage in the cultivation of beech. You just need to be patient, because in the first years the Beech grows very slowly.
I invite everyone to speak out in
One of the most common in deciduous and mixed forests located in most of Europe is beech. IN production process All the basic, sought-after properties and characteristics of beech wood are taken into account, which allows us to obtain high-quality products that are often used in various spheres of life.
Beech along with this famous tree How experts refer to the category of the most valuable wood species. The tree's height is most often natural conditions reaches 40-50 meters, it can grow up to 400-500 years. The wood has a special pattern with narrow heart-shaped, shiny lines, which allows you to get after polishing beautiful pattern on the manufactured product.
Wood retains its natural strength for a long time in a dry place, but quickly rots if the wood fibers are exposed to moisture for a long time. Due to this, beech products are most often intended only for indoor use in residential premises.
Beech is durable and very strong tree, properly made products from it are able to withstand high mechanical loads; also, steamed wood bends quite easily, and this helps to produce bent furniture for home and office businesses. The complexity of the beech processing process is not too high and costly, so experts rate the ease of working with this type of wood as four points on a five-point measurement scale.
Photo of beech tree
Main properties:
- Density. Beech as a tree is a species with an average wood density, which is approximately 670 kgm3.
- Strength of wood based on compression ratio. Beech, when compressed along the fibers, has a strength of 46 MPa, in bending 94. When stretched along the wood fibers, the strength of the wood of this tree reaches 129 MPa. It must be taken into account that this compression was determined when the wood moisture content did not exceed 15%.
- Natural humidity. Freshly harvested beech wood typically has a moisture content of 80%. With increased water absorption, wood humidity can reach up to 120% under certain conditions.
- Specific and volumetric gravity. The specific gravity for beech wood can vary in different conditions and depends directly on the percentage of humidity. At 12% of the total humidity, the specific gravity in calculations reaches 630-650 kg/m3.
- Chemical components. Beech wood, like most deciduous species of a wide variety of trees, consists mainly of organic, natural substances. The wood itself has 42.6% cellulose, 24% lingin, 16.7% pentosans, 5.6% hexosans. After the wood is burned, only the ash part remains, amounting to approximately 0.5% of the total mass of the burnt wood.
- Color. Beech is a coreless, that is, no visible core, tree species, therefore it is characterized by almost uniform internal parts coloring of wood fibers. In the wood, wide rays are clearly visible in the form of light rays, diverging in radii from the very middle and towards the outer bark. The color of the wood is slightly pink and reddish and may be yellowish. Old trees are especially valued by cabinetmakers in furniture production, as their wood has a distinct and attractive brownish-reddish color.
- GOST standards To assess the quality of lumber used in the production of beech wood, GOST 2695-83 is applied; according to this standard, the dimensions of the raw material in length and width are taken into account. Important It also has a type of wood; when determining it, specialists take into account a variety of parameters. These are the presence of knots, fiber tilt, wormholes, rot.
- Combustion temperature. Beech wood makes excellent firewood as fuel; its calorific value is 19.7 MJ/kg. When burning, a hot, constant flame is released. The highest combustion temperature and the resulting attractive, aromatic smell allow beech wood to be used as a grill.
- Thermal conductivity beech wood reaches 0.16 W/(m*K).
- Hygroscopicity This is the ability of wood to absorb the smallest drops and water vapor from the air. Beech wood quite actively absorbs water vapor, which increases the possibility of its rotting. Due to this property, beech is not used for exterior finishing of houses. But at the same time the application paint coatings reduces the natural hygroscopicity of wood.
Where does the tree grow
Beech is a deciduous tree and mainly grows in the wild in Western and some parts of the territory. Eastern Europe. Eastern beech is widespread in Crimea and the Caucasus Mountains. European beech grows in our country in the Kaliningrad region.
Not only the wood of this tree is used, but also nuts that differ nutritional value and special taste. Five species of beech grow in Japan and China. The environmental friendliness of areas with beech forests is rated five points. Deciduous trees actively purify the air and increase the humidity of the area.
What a beech tree can be
The wood of this naturally occurring tree is widely and already sufficiently used in various enterprises involved in the manufacture of furniture sets, building materials, kitchen utensils.
White
White beech is sometimes also called hornbeam. The wood of this tree is whitish-gray, strong and hard. In its raw state, the wood warps greatly, but after drying it does not change its shape at all. Due to its high hardness, white beech is used in modeling and carpentry. Hornbeam is almost never used in furniture making because it does not have an attractive appearance.
Photo of white beech and parquet made from it
Wood Parquet
Planed
Planed beech is one of the most widely and frequently used wood products in industry. Use pre-treated beech to make plywood different thicknesses, chipboard. The main area of use is still considered to be the furniture industry. When making furniture, wood is used in its entirety, in the form of plywood or veneer.
It is customary to make heavily used parts of furniture from beech, that is, seats for chairs or sofas and similar parts. Made from beech more wooden chairs. The high strength of this wood allows it to be widely used for the manufacture of stairs and parquet.
Beech is also used to make items for everyday needs, kitchen cutting boards, combs, and tool handles. Wooden toys are also made from wood, and they are smooth. Beech wood has been used since ancient times to make tubs and barrels. The practicality of beech products, subject to the standards of its manufacture, can be assessed as five points.
What does planed beech look like?
Bleached
Bleached beech is obtained as a result of dyeing. In order to achieve an even shade of wood, the workpiece is steamed for a certain time, then painted and dried. Bleached wood is used to make various furniture and parquet.
Not only in the manufacture of all kinds of popular building materials and wooden furniture. Special processing of wood makes it possible to obtain from it raw materials for the production of certain medicines, acetone, and a sugar substitute - xylitol. If necessary, beech can be processed independently, without the use of special special devices.
Photo of bleached beech furniture