American Beech, Fagus grandifolia

Beech trees are among my favorite trees aesthetically, as their defined trunks and thin, smooth gray bark allow for one to admire more easily the true structure of the tree. They reach mature heights of 100-115 ft (35 meters), though as always State and National Champion trees can serve as statistical outliers. The below photos were taken in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, where I’ve found our region has some of the nicest beech trees I’ve seen. I’ve heard that loggers of the past tended to leave Beech trees standing because their wood would check or split too much as it dried. After seeing many of the mature beeches in the woods in and near my hometown, I can’t imagine how many mature, beautiful beech trees were cut down to install subdivisions. The same goes for any tree species as well I suppose.

These photos were taken during a walk in the woods one winter. I personally enjoy walking through the woods in the wintertime, especially because I don’t have to worry about ticks or mosquitoes nearly as much, if at all.