Wildlife
Common beeches are beautiful woodland and landscape trees at any time of year. Pairs of nuts (masts) are produced in autumn from the female flowers, making a welcome source of food for deer, squirrels and mice. Livestock were once released into beech woodlands to feast on the beech's oil-rich bounty. This large, graceful giant can reach 40 metres or more, has alternate silky green oval leaves and a smooth grey bark. Beech trees are common throughout the chalky soils of Europe and were once thought to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans. However, pollen dating suggests they have been here since the last ice age.
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Mast year
A particularly beautiful and bountiful autumn for the wildlife of the New Forest.
A particularly beautiful and bountiful autumn for the wildlife of the New Forest.
Green growth
Timelapse shows the progression of spring in a beech woodland.
Timelapse shows the progression of spring in a beech woodland.
Beech wood
How a small fungus helps an entire woodland to grow.
How a small fungus helps an entire woodland to grow.
The Common beech can be found in a number of locations including: Europe, Russia, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Common beech distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Fagus sylvatica, the European Beech or Common Beech, is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae.
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