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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Beech
| image = EuroBeech.jpg
| image_width = 260px
| image_caption = European Beech leaves and cupules
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Fagaceae]]
| genus = '''''Fagus'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
''[[Fagus crenata]]'' - Japanese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus engleriana]]'' - Chinese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus grandifolia]]'' - American Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus hayatae]]'' - Taiwan Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus japonica]]'' - Japanese Blue Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus longipetiolata]]'' - South Chinese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus lucida]]'' - Shining Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus mexicana]]'' - Mexican Beech or Haya<br/>
''[[Fagus orientalis]]'' - Oriental Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus sylvatica]]'' - European Beech<br/>
}}
'''Beech''' (''Fagus'') is a genus of ten [[species]] of [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s in the family [[Fagaceae]], native to temperate [[Europe]], [[Asia]], and [[North America]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5-15 cm long and 4-10 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are small single-sex, wind-pollinated [[catkin]]s, produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear. The [[fruit]] is a small, sharply 3-angled [[nut (fruit)|nut]] 10-15 mm long, borne in pairs in soft-spined husks 1.5-2.5 cm long, known as cupules. The nuts are edible, though bitter with a high [[tannin]] content, and can be called beechmast.
The '''southern beeches''' ''[[Nothofagus]]'' previously thought closely related to beeches, are now treated in a separate family Nothofagaceae. They are found in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[New Guinea]], [[New Caledonia]] and [[South America]].
The [[beech blight aphid]] (''Grylloprociphilus imbricator'') is a common pest of beech trees.
==Uses==
The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental tree is the [[European Beech]] (''Fagus sylvatica''), widely cultivated in North America as well as its native Europe. The European species yields a widely used timber, an easy-to-work utility wood.
Beeches are used as food plants by some species of [[Lepidoptera]] - see [[list of Lepidoptera which feed on Beeches]].
Chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser]] [[beer]] to impart a taste similar to that of wood-barrel aging.
<gallery>
Image:Leavessnipedale.jpg|European Beech leaves
Image:Fagus-orientalis.JPG|Oriental Beech leaves
Image:Beech flowers.jpg|Flowers of ''Fagus sylvatica''
Image:BeechTrunk.JPG|Base of a Beech
</gallery>
==External links==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=112623 Flora of China - ''Fagus'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=112623 Flora of North America - ''Fagus'']
*[http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcb_servlet/checklist?fam=&pub=&gen=Fagus&geog=&spec=&infra=&auth=&pubauth=on&basauth=on&Search=Search&query_type=param_query Kew Checklist - ''Fagus'']
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
| color = lightgreen
| name = Beech
| image = EuroBeech.jpg
| image_width = 260px
| image_caption = European Beech leaves and cupules
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fagales]]
| familia = [[Fagaceae]]
| genus = '''''Fagus'''''
| genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
''[[Fagus crenata]]'' - Japanese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus engleriana]]'' - Chinese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus grandifolia]]'' - American Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus hayatae]]'' - Taiwan Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus japonica]]'' - Japanese Blue Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus longipetiolata]]'' - South Chinese Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus lucida]]'' - Shining Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus mexicana]]'' - Mexican Beech or Haya<br/>
''[[Fagus orientalis]]'' - Oriental Beech<br/>
''[[Fagus sylvatica]]'' - European Beech<br/>
}}
'''Beech''' (''Fagus'') is a genus of ten [[species]] of [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s in the family [[Fagaceae]], native to temperate [[Europe]], [[Asia]], and [[North America]]. The [[leaf|leaves]] are entire or sparsely toothed, from 5-15 cm long and 4-10 cm broad. The [[flower]]s are small single-sex, wind-pollinated [[catkin]]s, produced in spring shortly after the new leaves appear. The [[fruit]] is a small, sharply 3-angled [[nut (fruit)|nut]] 10-15 mm long, borne in pairs in soft-spined husks 1.5-2.5 cm long, known as cupules. The nuts are edible, though bitter with a high [[tannin]] content, and can be called beechmast.
The '''southern beeches''' ''[[Nothofagus]]'' previously thought closely related to beeches, are now treated in a separate family Nothofagaceae. They are found in [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[New Guinea]], [[New Caledonia]] and [[South America]].
The [[beech blight aphid]] (''Grylloprociphilus imbricator'') is a common pest of beech trees.
==Uses==
The beech most commonly grown as an ornamental tree is the [[European Beech]] (''Fagus sylvatica''), widely cultivated in North America as well as its native Europe. The European species yields a widely used timber, an easy-to-work utility wood.
Beeches are used as food plants by some species of [[Lepidoptera]] - see [[list of Lepidoptera which feed on Beeches]].
Chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser]] [[beer]] to impart a taste similar to that of wood-barrel aging.
<gallery>
Image:Leavessnipedale.jpg|European Beech leaves
Image:Fagus-orientalis.JPG|Oriental Beech leaves
Image:Beech flowers.jpg|Flowers of ''Fagus sylvatica''
Image:BeechTrunk.JPG|Base of a Beech
</gallery>
==External links==
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=112623 Flora of China - ''Fagus'']
*[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=112623 Flora of North America - ''Fagus'']
*[http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/wcb_servlet/checklist?fam=&pub=&gen=Fagus&geog=&spec=&infra=&auth=&pubauth=on&basauth=on&Search=Search&query_type=param_query Kew Checklist - ''Fagus'']
[[Category:Fagaceae]]
