Blue-beech

Leaves

Form

• Deciduous, alternate, simple
• Arranged in 2 rows on the twig
• Elliptic, tapering to a sharp tip
• Rounded at the base
• Texture firm
• Veins straight, parallel

Length

• 5–10 cm, becoming successively larger along the shoot

Colour

• Upper surface bluish-green
• Lower surface yellowish-green

Autumn colour

• Red

Margin

• Each vein ends in a sharp tooth, with 1–2 smaller intervening teeth

Buds

Form

• Ovoid, blunt, slightly hairy
• Pressed against the twig
• Several scales in 4 rows
• No true terminal bud
• Leaf scars with 3 vein scars

Colour

• Reddish-brown with a whitish margin

Twigs

Form

• Slender, as narrow as the leaf buds

Colour

• Grey to reddish-brown

Flowers

Form

• Pollen flowers in drooping catkins, growing laterally on previous year’s twigs
• Seed flowers in elongated clusters (racemes) at the tips of new leafy shoots
• Pollination takes place as the leaves begin to appear

Length

• Pollen flowers 25–40 mm

Structure

• Monoecious

Fruits

Form

• Small, ovoid, ribbed nut
• In the axil of a 3-lobed, leaf-like bract with 5–7 veins
• In elongated pendulous clusters

Length

• Nut 6–9 mm
• Bract about 25 mm
• Clusters 10–15 cm

Bark

Form

• Smooth, thin, unbroken
• Muscle-like longitudinal ridges giving a wavy outline in cross-section

Colour

• Slate grey

Wood

Texture

• Very heavy, hard, strong

Morphology

• Diffuse-porous
• Pores visible with a hand lens, larger rays visible to the naked eye

Uses

• Tool handles

Size

Height

• To 8 m

Diameter

• To 25 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Usually short, crooked, fluted

Crown

• Low, wide-spreading, with a few irregular, slightly zigzag branches bearing fine twigs in flat sprays

Habitat

Site

• Deep, rich, moist soils on lower slopes in valleys and along the borders of streams and swamps

Light tolerance

• Very shade-tolerant