Beech is not just a majestic deciduous tree with aesthetic properties of wood. Since ancient times, it is considered as one of the most energy-friendly breeds. Even a small beech detail can improve a person’s physical and emotional state, inspire creativity, give peace of mind and tolerance. A special surge of vitality, youth and health was felt by those who, finding themselves in the beech forest, at least once leaned against the trunk of a tall and healthy tree. What is the secret of an amazing plant, how it looks, where it grows, what properties it has and what diseases it can cure - we will tell about these and other features of the breed later in the article.
Description
Buki (Fagus) are representatives of the genus of the same name and develop to a forty-meter height. Externally, they are characterized by slender columnar trunks, neat, densely shady spherical crowns and serrated leaves of oblong elliptical shape.
Did you know? There has long been a tradition of healing trees. Old Believers say that bad energy should be given to spruces, and good energy should be taken from pine, beech and oak.
A characteristic feature of the tree is the location of its root system in the surface soil balls. It has no pronounced signs of the rod, and its lateral growth is distinguished by anchor branches.
Small end of the roots often go up or branch like a brush in a layer of dead litter. In old trees, hind legs grow strongly, therefore typical hollows and grooves are characteristic of them.
Beeches are visible from afar smooth grayish-silver bark and straight upright trunk. The tree lives up to 500 years, but the active period of its growth lasts only during the first century.
After eighty years, the trunk stops increasing in height and only thickens. Older specimens can grow in diameter up to one and a half meters and more. The annual increase in the crown is still noticeable until the age of 350.
Other crops cannot grow under the roof of these trees. Usually, under densely closed branches in pure forest plantings, only dead deciduous litter is observed.
Did you know? Dendrotherapists say that to improve physical and emotional health, it is enough to have a small beech object with you. For example, beads or bracelet. For the owner, this is not just a decoration, but a source of vitality, creativity, common sense, balance, and also a strong antiseptic.
At the time of the blooming of deciduous buds, which differ in one and a half centimeter long and with a spindle of a similar shape, inflorescences appear from the lower sinuses. They are divided into male and female.
It is noticed that the first are located along the entire length of the branches, and the second - only at their endings. After flowering throughout the summer, the fruit ripens - a triangular fleece walnut with sharp edges. In the seed usually they are 2 or 4.
Familiarize yourself with popular deciduous trees, flowering trees, ornamental plants, ornamental trees, useful plants.
The tree needs low temperatures in winter as it has a positive effect on the development of female inflorescences. But at the same time during flowering is afraid of excessive moisture and dryness. Indeed, in such conditions, pollen is doomed to death.
In addition, in the rainy season, the sticky secretion emitted from the buds is washed off. And this in turn affects the bad pollination.
Kinds
Botanists emit about a dozen species of beeches. Consider the most popular ones.
Learn how to grow acacia white, yellow, silver, birch, elm, smooth, hornbeam, oak, linden, alder, ash, ailanth, Amur velvet, sausage tree, ginkgo biloba, gedichiyu, pavlovnia, catalpa, chestnut, eucalyptus.
European (Fágus sylvática)
It is also called beech forest. This is the most common representative of the family of Beech, which is often found in western, central and eastern regions of Europe (Denmark, Norway, United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Greece, France, Spain, Portugal). In Ukraine, these trees grow in the Carpathians, as well as in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Vinnitsa regions.
In addition, the species was introduced on the North American continent. In these regions, beech plantings form entire forest subzones, although often the plant is cultivated in botanical gardens, parks and arboreta.
Many gardeners prefer it in landscape design, using different selection forms of the species. A feature of European beech wood is its wood, which is widely used in furniture construction, and the fruits that are used in food.
Did you know? In Soviet times, there was a state standard for the manufacture of wooden ice cream sticks. The Ministry of Health of the USSR adopted a recommendation to produce them only from beech. And all because, as the scientists explain, this wood has no equal - it is completely absorbed in the human body.
Distinctive characteristics of European beech is the ovate or wide cylindrical shape of the crown with a rounded top and thin branches. Its maximum area often reaches 315 m2.
Large Leaf (Fagus grandifolia)
These flowering trees of the Beech family are well known in the eastern zones of North America and Western Europe. The extreme extent of their prevalence extends from Nova Scotia along the St. Marys River to the southern shore of Lake Superior, covering the states of Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, reaching as far as the Atlantic Ocean. Separate areas of large-leaved beech botany are isolated on the territory of Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas, as well as on the Mexican coasts.
On European lands, the species came only at the end of the 18th century as a decorative culture for the landscape gardening landscape. Over time, wood quality was evaluated. The plant can be found in mixed deciduous forests, where there are maples, birch and linden.
Feature of the form is large elongated sheet plates. Each kidney extends to a length of 2.5 centimeters. Foliage is low pubescent, broadly lanceolate form. The average length of the leaves is 6-12 cm, and width - 3-6 cm.
The tree looks spectacular in any season: in spring, young silky leaves attract the eye, in the summer they are transformed into a thick dark bluish-green cover of the crowns, and in the autumn they are filled with reddish-burgundy shades.
Important! Prepared for medicinal purposes, beech leaves and bark can not be dried in direct sunlight. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation in the chemical composition of raw materials irreversible processes occur and useful components are destroyed. The best option for drying is a well ventilated attic.
Eastern (Fagus orientalis)
The species is very common in the coastal zones of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus. It has a very slow growth and increased shade tolerance. That is why the young oriental beeches provide abundant growth under the forest cover, but when they grow to mature age, the branches close tightly, not giving a chance to grow even grass.
Characteristically, these plants occupy more than a quarter of all forests of the Caucasus. They develop better at altitudes up to a thousand meters above sea level.
Bright signs of this species are wavy whole-edged foliage, as well as drooping fuzzy young shoots. Wood has a white and yellow color and high physical and mechanical properties. The only drawback of the beech board is its poor resistance to rotting, which does not in the best way affect the durability of the material.
Experts advise that before using it is obligatory to process lumber with special solutions that improve its endurance.
Japanese (Fagus japonica)
This species of beech trees is common on the Japanese islands of Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, as well as on the Korean Peninsula. They prefer the highlands and can rise to 2 thousand meters above sea level. Domestic specimens can be seen in European gardens, but not often.
Important! With insufficient heat treatment, beech fruits can cause poisoning, which is manifested by unpleasant sensations in the abdomen, general malaise, nausea, headaches, acute gastroenteritis. In case of intoxication, it is recommended to wash the gastrointestinal tract.
A characteristic difference in Japanese beech is its moderate height. Compared with other counterparts, representatives of this species do not grow above 20 meters and are often multi-barreled. Their foliage in length reaches 6-8 centimeters and is distinguished by a slightly heart-shaped base, as well as a hairy central vein. The fruits of Japanese beech always have a more pointed end.
Learn more about coniferous plants - larch, fir, thuja, pine, pseudo-hemlock, cypress, microbiota, dwarf cedar, Araucaria, yew, myriacis of foxtail, cryptomeria, cedar, juniper.
Taiwanese (Fagus hayatae)
It is a tree with a twenty-meter trunk and a neat thick crown. The prevalence of the species is limited to Taiwan. But even in the homeland, culture is rarely found in deciduous forests, as it is gradually being supplanted by an actively growing alpine beech. Moreover, the Taiwanese variety practically does not give young shoots.
Gorodchaty (Fagus crenata)
This type of beeches is distinguished by the slimness of its trunks, which extend up to 35 meters. The spherical dense crown is also typical of the mind, which consists of thin densely closed branches and leaves that are 10 centimeters in length.
Learn about the difficulties in growing apples, pears, cherries, walnuts, cherry plums, bird cherry trees, apricots, peaches, figs.Budded beeches are popular in Japan. Because dominate the local deciduous forests. Due to the prevalence of this plant, local chefs often practice adding young leaves to their food, and Japanese traditionally make coffee from beech nuts.
Did you know? Beeches attract lightning. This is the conclusion reached by a group of researchers who studied the stripes left on trees without bark after strong thunderstorms. According to statistics, every hundredth tree suffered a lightning strike. The five of the most dangerous species closed linden, spruce, poplar and oak.
Engler (Fagus engleriana)
The view is characterized by a 20-meter high trunk and a very large crown that develops in the shape of an oval. This is due to strong branching. The plant differs from other beeches in an elongated-oval form of leaves.
Breed is considered rare. It is found only in some areas of the People’s Republic of China. Cultivated varieties can be seen in the landscape landscape of other countries.
Long-petiole (Fagus longipetiolata)
This variety of beeches in everyday life is often called South China, due to the place of distribution of the tree. Most often, their wild forest thickets are found in the tropical forests of Vietnam, as well as in the south-east of China. The smooth grayish trunk of a long-beech beech above 25 meters does not grow. The rounded crown is slightly flat on top. 
Familiarize yourself with the maple varieties - gold-leaved, red, flamingo, ash-leaved, Tatar, Japanese, Manchurian, Ginnala, silver, field, Canadian.
Shining (Fagus lucida)
This species, like the previous one, is more known to the inhabitants of China. It also develops upwards of not more than 25 meters and is characterized by a neat, rounded crown with edible small nuts. A distinctive feature of the species is a specific reflection on the bark.
Important! The landscape gardening design with beech successfully combines: hazel, oak, birch, mountain ash, sycamore, berry yew, fir, pine, spruce, Canadian hemlock.
Where is growing
Beech planting has long inhabited our planet. It has been scientifically proven that 85 million years before our era, these plants occupied a vast territory on most continents. In those days, the extreme feature of their range passed from Canada through Alaska, Greenland, Kamchatka and the Urals. But already 62 million years later, the beeches occupied the southern territories of Eurasia and North America, displacing typical subtropical vegetation.
After the onset of the Ice Age, beech trees were supplanted by conifers in northern Europe. This is indicated by fossil wood residues found in Scotland.
Today, botanists are crediting beech to the most common representatives of the flora. In any corner of the world: even in the lowlands, even in the mountains, you can find them. Moreover, these trees will be dominant in mixed or deciduous forests.
If you look closely at the modern map of the world, then the beeks can safely give all the temperate and subtropical climate zones of the Northern Hemisphere. Trees do not climb above 2.5 thousand meters above sea level, they prefer fertile loamy substrates with alkaline and slightly acidic pH, they are distinguished by increased endurance, and are not demanding.
Important! Experts call the first half of autumn the best period for harvesting beechwood.
Medicinal properties
For a long time, mankind has been practicing beech herbal medicine using foliage, bark and oil of a magnificent plant for this purpose. Healing broths, teas, baths, lotions, compresses are prepared from its raw materials.
The healing properties of the culture are very extensive. Bioenergy treats it as an additional source of vitality, knowledge and inner peace. Not for nothing is the furniture of beechwood very much appreciated today.
According to experts, beech has the following healing effects:
- calms the nervous system;
- helps with insomnia;
- improves blood circulation;
- heals wounds;
- has an antiseptic effect;
- beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal tract;
- normalizes blood sugar levels;
- relieves pain and relieves swelling;
- improves appetite;
- raises vitality;
- normalizes the liver;
- improves skin, nails and hair;
- helps with rheumatism (massages with beech oil are shown);
- improves metabolic processes;
- prevents the development of anemia and vitamin deficiency;
- cleanses the body of cholesterol, free radicals and slags;
- It helps with diseases of the upper respiratory tract, bronchi and lungs.
Important! Beech nuts are suitable for consumption, but in their raw form is absolutely impossible. This is due to the large number of toxic alkaloids that are neutralized during frying.
Video: beech nuts
Application
Beech is valued in the household not only as an energy amulet and medicinal raw materials. Many cultivated species of this breed are widely used in landscape gardening. In this embodiment, the trees can be located in single and group plantings. Very often, they personify the piece green zones in the forest parks, and are also an excellent material for creating hedges.
In many countries, the most important resort-aesthetic value is given to beech forests. As a rule, it is in these arrays that prestigious recreational facilities for children and adults are located.
Beech is often used in the formation of hedges, find out which plants you should pay attention to when laying a hedge, which bushes grow quickly, and how to care for a hedge.Environmentalists emphasize the role of beeches in the purification of air and the protection of soil from erosion, weathering. According to experts, beech plantings contribute to the ingress of surface water runoff into deep seams.
At the expense of it uniform replenishment of natural reservoirs by an atmospheric precipitation is provided and their silting is prevented. Studies have shown that in such forests there is never a large soil erosion. Meanwhile, tree roots secrete substances that increase the fertility of substrates.
Old trees are carved for valuable wood. It is widely used in the joinery, for the manufacture of furniture, musical instruments (guitars, violins), parquet, weaving parts, measuring equipment, rifle butts, wooden packaging.
Did you know? English brewers use beech wood even in making their favorite Budweiser drink, adding wood chips while cooking..Characteristic signs of beechwood are:
- white or yellowish-red tonality, which eventually turns into a pinkish-brown;
- density;
- satisfactory moisture resistance;
- heaviness;
- propensity to deform at elevated moisture;
- ease of processing and polishing;
- fragility in operating conditions in the open air.
You can make a rack, a table, a rocking chair, a barrel, a fence, a greenhouse, a path from the cuts, an arbor of wood.
Beech trees have found their use in cooking. For example, acetic acid is made from their wood, and nuts are used for desserts and pastries. Also, this raw material is the basis in the process of obtaining tar, methyl alcohol and creosote oils.
Note that, based on the rich vitamin and mineral composition of beech fruits, in places where there are a lot of these trees, the locals traditionally cook pancakes, pancakes and shortbread from nut flour. And in the Caucasus and Carpathian regions, this ingredient is used for all bakery products.
From beech fruits they get the most valuable oil, which is widely used for food purposes (in its taste is not much worse than Provençal), as well as in cosmetology. It is added to various masks as a nutritional ingredient for hair, face and skin. Depending on the manufacturing technology, beech oil of technical types is used for feeding livestock and coffee surrogates.
Chaririks (beech nuts) act as raw materials for beech oil
Important! Beech therapy is strictly contraindicated in people prone to allergic reactions, as well as with individual intolerance to the components. Therefore, experts advise to use a test before using any plant raw materials for food or cosmetic purposes. To do this, it is enough to apply a small amount of the drug to the area with sensitive skin..
In addition, beech raw materials are widely used in traditional medicine. From a variety of diseases, the universal medicine is ordinary tea, made from a teaspoon of dry, crushed leaves and a glass of boiling water. On the day of such a drink is shown to 1 liter.
And for those who love forest walks, bioenergetics are advised to find a young and strong tree, lean back on it and mentally “merge” with it into a single whole. Such practices give a charge of strength and health.
Breeding
Buki are characterized as shade-tolerant and undemanding plants that adapt to any conditions. Therefore, they easily and quickly multiply. Under natural conditions, this process is most often carried out by the seed method, as well as with the help of root shoots, which occasionally releases young shoots.
But there are other techniques for obtaining a young seedling. Consider them in more detail:
- Cuttings. The variant is more often practiced by gardeners in reproduction of cultivated plant varieties. For this purpose, planting material with a length of about 12 centimeters is cut from young and strong branches. Experienced gardeners advise to hold cuttings for a while in a growth stimulant solution (“Kornevin”, “Emistim”) before planting. And after that, plant it in the traditional way in loamy soil and water well. For better growth of the root system, it is better to cover the plantation with a film so that a greenhouse microclimate forms under it.
- Graft. This method is practiced in spring or autumn. It is realized in the traditional way: on the dissected stock, a prepared stalk is fixed and fixed with the help of electrical tape, polyethylene or other materials. Be prepared that vaccination may be ineffective. As a stock, it is better to use appropriate species of wild flora. When the graft sprouts take root, the mount can be removed.
- Taps. It happens that the mother plant arbitrarily releases young shoots from the root branches. It is important to give them the opportunity to get stronger and spend the winter at least once. Then you can safely cut off a young seedling from a mature plant.
- Seed method. Many breeders and amateur gardeners tend to think that this method more than the others justifies the results of the effort. But its main difficulty lies in the collection of planting material. If this process succeeds, the seed must be disinfected before planting in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. After that, they are sown in the usual way in a separate container and germinated in room conditions until it is warm outside. Only then can plants be transplanted into open ground.
Familiarize yourself with the features of grafting, grafting, pruning, feeding trees.
Care
All types of beeches are sensitive to air pollution and soil salinity. For planting it is better to choose loamy areas with calcareous components. If there are none, you will have to resort to chalking.
In the spring, it is desirable to add complex mineral fertilizers to the site, which will improve the development of seedlings. Moreover, the first 3 years after landing, it practically does not grow.
Trees are well perceived sanitary trim and the formation of the crown. They calmly react to the shadow and the scorching sun, but they do not tolerate northerly winds, drafts, long-term temperature drops and droughts.
Beeches prefer warm and moderately humid air. Therefore, when growing in home gardens, young trees require periodic watering and liming of the soil. Also among the important procedures in the care is the annual removal of old, frozen or lost branches.
In the first years after planting, rooted seedlings require prophylactic spraying from harmful insects and pathogens. Also, do not forget to loosen the soil in a circle and remove weeds. To keep moisture in the ground as long as possible, you can mulch it with mowed grass.
Did you know? Indian yogis believe that the beeches more than the rest of the trees absorb the energy coming from space and, when they enter the human abode, they constantly share it with the tenants.
Diseases and pests
Despite the half-year life expectancy of beeches, they are very sensitive to diseases and pests. Therefore, timely preventive measures will only benefit young seedlings.
Of all the fauna representatives, the most dangerous for beeches are:
- beech shuttle;
- red-tailed caterpillar;
- butterfly moths;
- winter moth;
- peeled orange and yellow-gray;
- archery;
- leaf wrappers;
- beech building sets;
- goldtails;
- beech streptocipital moth;
- crested insects;
- vilohvost;
- mole speckled;
- borer odorous;
- common bear;
- grain barbel;
- Oak narrow bark;
- beetle beetles;
- aphid;
- pincers;
- worms;
- Gauls;
- moths;
- beech bark beetles.
Learn how to cut a tree, how to destroy a tree without cutting it, how to decorate a stump, how to uproot stumps.The attacks of these insects are evidenced by twisted and lifeless leaves, withered branches, as well as intra-trunk damage. It is characteristic that many attacking parasites begin to be activated in early spring, eating deciduous buds, young stem fibers. Some prefer to eat ripe fruits.
If nothing is done, the mighty forest longevity will soon perish. Experts advise broad-spectrum insecticides as therapeutic and prophylactic drugs. These include: Aktar, Aktellik, Provado, Calypso, Decis and others.
Did you know? The fate of Joan of Arc was played by the beech, called the "fairy tree" in Lorraine. So it is not known where this name came from (perhaps it is connected with the rites of the ancient Celts), but the locals firmly believed that the key-beater nearby had healing properties, its water was taken off the fever and treated the sick. A magical healing power was attributed to the tree. Pilgrims often gathered in this picturesque corner, alarming the local clergy with dancing and singing. Jeanne was among them. And in her official accusation was meant "idolatry of the" fairy tree ".In addition to gnawing and sucking adversity, beech is threatened by pathogenic fungi. Biologists have about seven hundred species. The most common tree diseases are:
- powdery mildew (which leads to drying of the foliage already in the second half of the summer);
- root rot (young plants are vulnerable);
- ascomycete (leads to necrosis of wood, ulcers and putrid formations);
- tuberculosis;
- non-sodium necrosis (when the vascular part of the trunk and cortex is affected);
- chaga;
- frost cancer (occurs in places of crust damage by severe frosts);
- green mold (strikes nuts and young sprouts).
In addition, scaly growths are formed on different parts of the plant. To save trees from such problems will help fungicides: "Allett", "Skor", "Coronett", "Antrakol", "Previkur", "Maxim".
Keep in mind that beeches can not grow under the influence of smoke, exhaust gases. These factors have a destructive effect on the plant. Moreover, if the disease is of an acute nature, individual parts suffer, and in the chronic, all vital functions gradually die off.
Did you know? Up to 300 kilograms of nuts can be harvested from one hectare of beech forest in a productive year..
Stocking
Given the beneficial properties of beech trees, bark and foliage will be useful as a medical raw material in the farm, as ripe lumber as wood, and ripe nuts as a tasty delicacy.
According to experts from the field of dendrotherapy, harvesting of foliage can be carried out throughout the summer. It is better to collect bark in the fall. The same applies to fruits, because in an immature form they are inedible and will not be stored for a long time. Usually, the harvesting process begins in September, when the fruits themselves fall to the ground, and can last until December.
After harvesting the crop must undergo the process of winnowing and drying. Only then can it be sorted into bags for storage. It is important that the humidity in the storage does not exceed 60-65 percent. By the way, it is better to place fabric packs on the wooden stage, not on the floor.
Beech wood is best harvested from the old dead wood.
Did you know? Ancient Egyptians always used wooden amulets around their necks to protect them from harm and misfortune. A bad omen was considered the loss of such a subject. This was regarded as the inevitable illness or death of the former owner..
Now you know what the peculiarity of these forest long-livers is and why every house should have at least a small beech stone. It’s not for nothing that these trees are revered by experts as a fragrant energy flow, which turns your body into a powerful fortress, and the cloister into a stronghold of peace. Take her generous gifts from nature without causing damage, and well-being will reign in your home.
