Scientific name: Fagus sylvatica L.
Common name: Beech
Description
Habit: A woody, deciduous tree, to 45 m high, with an oval and dense crown.
Leaves: Alternate, undivided, short-stalked, broadly oval, 4-9 cm, untoothed or bluntly toothed, with silky hairs on margins and veins; stipules falling early.
Flowers: Inconspicuous, actinomorphic; male flowers numerous in pendent, globular catkins, each with 12 stamens; female flowers 2-3 together in erect clusters, surrounded by bracts, on short hairy stalks.
Fruits: A nut, 3-angled, surrounded by fused scales.
Twigs: Slender, erect, grey; winter buds long, slender, finely pointed, reddish-brown.
Bark: Grey and very smooth, even on old trees.
Habitat: Woods and plantations. Distribution: Frequent in all except the most exposed areas.
Native status: Not native; naturalised and freely regenerating, all specimens originally from planted trees.
Of conservation interest: No