Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Fagus grandifolia +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina website.
Keep a watchful eye out for a new disease affecting beech trees: "New Leaf Disease is a Beech"
Depending on one's tolerance or intolerance for intergradational varieties, one may choose to recognize one or two taxa in our area, per Weakley's Flora (2025)
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Fagus grandifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Fagus grandifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Fagus grandifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-01-001:
Fagus grandifolia FAMILY Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Fagus grandifolia +
COMMON NAME:
American Beech
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p24a
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Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_261
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_fagr_001_lvd
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_fagr_004_lhd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_fagr_006_lvd
)
Keith Bradley kab_f_grandifolia_3608
January Hampton County SC
Lake Warren State Park
Bark is smooth and grayish, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
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JK Marlow jkm0303l_19
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
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JK Marlow jkm0503b_34
March Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
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Alan S. Weakley asw_1277354132869657
April Orange County NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden
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JK Marlow jkm0204d_19
April Greenville County SC
Roadside
Leaves often remain throughout the winter, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
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JK Marlow jkm0304o_15
April Greenville County SC
Buds 1" long, lance-shaped, very sharp-pointed; bud scales lustrous tan, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
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JK Marlow jkm190413_7263
April Rabun County GA
Staminate flowers in spherical drooping heads on slender peduncles, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm240412_8442
April Greenville County SC
The two seed leaves (cotyledons).
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JK Marlow jkm240412_8475
April Greenville County SC
The first two true leaves and the two seed leaves (cotyledons).
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JK Marlow jkm240412_8494
April Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow s030621_a
June Greenville County SC
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Gill Newberry gn07_f_grandifolia_branch
July
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JK Marlow jkm090726_103
July Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Fruit is a softly prickled bur enclosing 2-3 nuts, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
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JK Marlow jkm090726_107
July Buncombe County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Beechnuts are three-cornered and small but solidly full of meat, per Farmer Boy (Wilder, 1933).
)
JK Marlow jkm140730_242
July Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
To see more pictures of this, google "root tree Greenville SC", per USA Today.
)
Gill Newberry gn08_f_grandifolia_veins_
August
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Gill Newberry gn08_f_trunk_with_heart
August
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Gill Newberry gn08_fagus_leaf
August
Leaves have straight, evenly spaced secondary veins, per Fall Color & Woodland Harvests (Bell & Lindsey, 1990).
)
JK Marlow jkm200804_6831
August Spartanburg County SC
"Grylloprociphilus imbricator" - not considered a serious threat to beech trees.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_f_grandifolia_2_bark
August Floyd County GA
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JK Marlow jkm200908_7135
September Spartanburg County SC
When disturbed, "boogie-woogie aphids" lift and pulse their fuzzy posteriors.
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_090721hayesville01
September Clay County NC
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Paul Thompson pstfagus_grandifolia
September?
Note glossy leaves with acuminate tips and parallel lateral veins. — Clemson Extension
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Gill Newberry gn10_fagus_nuts
October
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JK Marlow jkm0211j_13
November Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm0511e_21
November Greenville County SC
Jones Gap State Park
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JK Marlow jkm061104_089
November Swain County NC
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JK Marlow jkm201107_8110
November Greenville County SC
Ashmore Heritage Preserve
A glorious display of fall color with a young beech in the foreround.
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JK Marlow jkm211112_4897
November Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
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Steve Marlow snm_607beech3_sspsel
November Greenville County SC
Southside County Park
Recognized by leaves with dentate margin, the tip acuminate, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
Paul Thompson pstfagus_grandifolia2
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Fagus grandifolia +
FAMILY
Fagaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Fagus grandifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Fagus grandifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Fagus grandifolia
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 055-01-001:
Fagus grandifolia
FAMILY
Fagaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Fagus grandifolia +
565
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common
LEAVES:
Winter-deciduous
Simple
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring
4-6 sepals - connate in staminate flowers, distinct in pistillate flowers
Petals absent
6-16 stamens in staminate flowers
Unisexual
Staminate flowers in spherical drooping heads
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Nut
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p044
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p289
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p195
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p228
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p229
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p158
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p106
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p154
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p104
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p141
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p45
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p237
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p138
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