BEECH (OHG. buocha, Lat. Tagus, Gk. Orry6s, pheyns, oak; cf. Skt. bhaksh, to eat), ragas. A genus of trees of the natural order Fagacefe. The species are not numerous; most of them are forest trees of great beauty. The genus has been divided into two sections—Eufagus, with four species in the Northern Hemisphere, and Notho fagus in the Southern, with a dozen species. By some botanists these are considered distinct gen era. The European Beech (Fagus sylvatica)— see Plate of BALSAM—forms pure forests in many parts of Europe. It grows to a height of 100 to 120 feet and a diameter of 4 feet, and when stand ing alone becomes a very ornamental tree, with far-spreading branches, which often droop grace fully almost to the ground. It has thin, ovate, obscurely toothed leaves, finely ciliated on their margins. Its bark is smooth, and is often of a whitish color. The beech thrives best in light but not sandy soils, and does not send its roots deep into the •ground, hut rather horizontally under the surface. The wood is more or less of a reddish-brown color. It is very hard and solid but brittle, and when exposed to the open air very liable to rot and to be eaten by worms. When kept under water, it is very durable; hence its use in the erection of mills and for weirs, sluices, etc. It is also employed for many purposes by cabinet-makers and turn ers. It is very much used in France for mak ing the sabots, or wooden shoes, worn by the peasantry, being preferred for this purpose to every 'other wood except walnut, on account of its incapacity for absorbing water. It is one of the best kinds of firewood in Europe. The bark is sometimes employed in tanning when oak bark is scarce. The beech bears lopping well, and is often planted for hedges: Beech nuts, when fresh, have a sweet taste, like that of a walnut. They contain in large quantity a bland fixed oil, along with starch, a little sugar, and an astringent substance. A volatile, nar cotic, poisonous principle, called fagine, is also found in them, hut more in the husk than in the kernel: and when not only the smooth„ leath ery, outer husk, but also the thin brown inner pellicle have been removed, they constitute a wholesome food. They are, however, more gen
erally used for feeding swine, poultry, etc., and are much employed in France and other parts of Europe for the manufacture of beech oil. When expressed without the application of heat, and well clarified, this oil has an agreeable taste and is used for food; it keeps long without be coming rancid. Beech forests anciently abound ed in England, and great herds of swine were fed in them. The beech is not, in general, found in Europe north of latitude 59°, although it occurs two degrees farther north in the Scan dinavian Peninsula and in the temperate parts of Asia. In gardens and pleasure-grounds a variety is very frequently to be seen, the leaves of which have a blood-red color. Time same color appears also in some degree in the leaves of the beech of North America (Fagus fer ruginea), which is distinguished by ovate, coarsely serrated, and much acuminated leaves. It forms extensive forests in the northeastern United States and the adjoining British Pos sessions; and its wood, which is of a somewhat red or rusty color, is more valued than that of the white beech. Several species of the beech are natives of the more elevated parts of the south of New Zealand; others belong to the south of South America. The genus is, in fact, more characteristic of the colder latitudes of the Southern than of the Northern Hemisphere. Fagus Cunninghamii is the 'myrtle-tree' of the mountains of Tasmania—a very large tree, with evergreen leathery leaves, in form much resem bling those of the birch. Fag-us betuloides is the evergreen beech of Tierra del Fuego, where it forms forests of Which the dark-green foliage contrasts strikingly in winter with the dazzling snow. The wood is too heavy and brittle for masts, but makes tolerable planks, and is car ried to the treeless Falkland Islands for roofing houses. Fagus anta•ctica ascends higher on the mountains about the Strait of Magellan. It has deciduous leaves, and much resembles the common beech. Fagus proccra grows in the Andes of Chile, and attains a majestic size. It is a valuable timber tree. In the United States, Carpinus Caroliniana, a small tree, is called Blue Beech and Water Beech.