Talk:Beech

Celtic Zodiac

Removed reference to being part of the Celtic Zodiac. "Beeches is one of symbols of the Celtic Zodiac"

It is not, according to http://www.novareinna.com/constellation/description.html. And if it is, it should be in an article on Celtic zodiac. Imc 21:26, 16 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Slovakian picture

I'm not sure if the picture from Slovakia actually shows beeches. Beeches I've seen have lighter bark and more straight, column-like trunks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.16.132.162 (talk) 16:26, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

You mean this one? The color of the bark is not visible. The trunks are ... I guess not perfect beech trunks as I know them from parks, but I'd say they are in range. JöG (talk) 07:47, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Beeches are not always perfect and the photo was shot againts the light - that's why the bark is dark. See my other picture (

) - also not perfect beeches but with "correct" bark :) No doubts - i know what the beech is :) Doronenko (talk) 12:47, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Beech syrup

I understand there is a product called beech syrup, which I assume is produced and perhaps tastes like maple syrup. I Googled it and only came up with a few entries, which indicated it is produced in Eastern Canada and areas of Scotland. Can anyone shed some light on this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.172.93.48 (talk) 13:35, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure it's not beech oil you mean? It is the oil extracted from the beech nuts which is used for culinary purposes. –Holt T•C 17:41, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

I think it is cr*p. I have lived in Scotland all my life, and have *never* heard of either. Seems like an improbable tradition for Scotland to have developed, because the tree is not native to the country, but introduced, and you'd be hard pressed getting enough nuts from the introduced specimens to press for oil in most seasons, though seed set is possible here. Suggest it is deleted pending citation of a secure source. Plantsurfer (talk) 18:03, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

I deleted the unsourced statement, as I cannot find anything on the net and you, as a native, have invalidated it. As soon as someone finds a reliable source, it should of course be put back up with a reference. –Holt T•C 18:29, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

I think that you mean birch syrup!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birch_syrup — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.132.159.169 (talk) 15:33, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes, there is a beech syrup. Good for heart weakness. Cures it. Hard to find though. It is of course different from birch syrup. Two different kind of trees. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.191.161.176 (talk) 07:27, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

My Fagus grandifolia are gushing sap right now, so I collected some and boiled it down about 10:1. It's very sweet, not even slightly bitter, and has a strong vanilla flavor. Delicious! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:6000:8E84:C400:210:5AFF:FE0B:A1C9 (talk) 02:17, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

There are some mentions on the web but nothing you could really call a reliable source; more like people asking if it is possible in fora. There is a product called Beechwood Honeydew made in New Zealand from the secretions of aphids. I see there's a separate article for Nothofagus, the southern beeches, so it probably belongs there rather than here. --Cavrdg (talk) 07:19, 25 March 2016 (UTC)

References

Blindness

Can you really go blind from spitting beechnut in someone's eyes? It's an old folk-tale I've heard, but beech trees are scarce in Florida. Refer to the song "A Country Boy Can Survive" by Hank Williams, Jr. "I'd love to spit some beechnut in that dude's eye/and shoot 'im with my ole' 45" Just a thought... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.232.54.249 (talk) 00:32, 6 December 2008 (UTC) Probably refers to Beechnut Chewing Tobacco —Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.133.15.18 (talk) 02:20, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Taste of the nuts

In the intro bit it says beechnuts taste bitter and later in the 'Uses' section it says they taste sweet. Make your mind up! Personally I think they taste somewhere between walnuts, hazelnuts and pecans... the bitter taste comes from the fine hairs between the nut and the shell which must be rubbed off before being eaten. Sparrer (talk) 15:42, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

Why would you eat the hairs after rubbing them off? 140.147.236.194 (talk) 15:16, 13 August 2009 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

Before the nut is eaten, you silly individual. 97.123.71.215 (talk) 01:42, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

Additional Uses

• Beech tree leaves were supposedly regularly smoked by German soldiers in WWI. Other groups may have (or may still) smoke them also? fonetikli (talk) 13:10, 8 May 2009 (UTC)

Habit

i was reading this for research and i noticed that unlike any of the other tree articles, and even though its root system is unique, there is no information regarding the root system of the beech tree. If i knew anything about it, i would put something there but, alas, i don't.

Ditto..... I needed to find out about root system of the ENORMOUS beech in next doors garden, it's already killing his lilac tree under/was next to it. Little will grow that side of the garden. Anyone know out there? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Patbur (talk • contribs) 20:16, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Myth

I half-recall some myth about the beech tree, in which someone was transformed into a beech. The way the tree holds its leaves until the new ones come in was attributed to some desire to please a loved one in some way. Does anyone know this story, and is it part of a major mythology, such that it should be mentioned here? 86.164.66.83 (talk) 18:34, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

You should learn to use Google properly. It was Daphne. Brutal Deluxe (talk) 20:27, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Use in furniture

Last two versions:
Beech wood is not commonly used for furniture making, as it is not dimensionally stable in the presence of varying moisture levels. However, it is this property that gives it an advantage in the making of wood biscuits used in joining other pieces of wood together, as water-based glue will swell the biscuit tightly into the cut slots.
and
Beech wood is commonly used in furniture making, and has been used in Chair making as early as the British Furniture Industry extends back. This is primarily due to the large amount of Beech trees in the Chilterns Forest in High Wycombe England. Beech is also used for Veneer as Beech Doors have become popular in recent years. Beech is has also been traditionally used by Furniture Makers and Joiners for the construction of Work-Benches due to it's Hardness. In addition to this Beech is commonly favoured as the Material for Wooden Mallets, a common tool in many Furniture Makers toolbox.

I've removed both for the present. Neither is referenced. A quick search on Google suggests beech furniture is certainly available in the UK but we really need some reliable sources.Cavrdg (talk) 21:05, 31 October 2010 (UTC)

This is the sort of ill-informed pretentious Wiki-lawyering we can do without.

Beech is used extensively for furniture throughout Europe. I am sitting on an Italian-made beechwood chair at this very moment.

See, for example, extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/HI_12.pdf which states "The most common hardwoods used to construct chairs are ash, BEECH, birch, cherry, mahogany, maple, oak, pecan, poplar, teak, and walnut." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.175.209.147 (talk) 16:43, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Beech nut needed

Beech nut redirects here, but apart from a bit on "is eddible" and "contains tanin" there's nothing here. We either need a more comprehensive paragraph or a separate page, like for acorns. (Before some smart person suggests that I DIY something, I wouldn't have been looking for info here if I'd be able to do that.) This might help, but I don't know how reliable the info is. http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y4351E/y4351e0c.htm (Will post again when I've managed to snatch some of our nuts from the chipmunks whether they really are sweet or bitter) 99.11.160.111 (talk) 04:47, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

There are some photos in Commons under F. sylvatica that you might want to consider adding, for example Bucheckerschale.JPG and Beechnuts roasted.jpg. Nadiatalent (talk) 11:43, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

The German wikipedia page here might be inspiration. Nadiatalent (talk) 14:40, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

Ten other languages have an article on "beechnut": Беларуская, Brezhoneg, Dansk, Deutsch, Dolnoserbski, Français, Hornjoserbsce, Nederlands, Polski, Русский. Could someone create a separate English article in order to link it? Thanks. ----Bernburgerin (talk) 17:17, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Beech commonly used for rifle stocks

Beech has commonly been used for rifle stocks, often due to the greater expense or lesser availability of walnut.

For example, from the NRA's National Firearms Museum website at http://www.nramuseum.com/museum/the-galleries/america-ascending/case-57-world-war-i-allies-the-world-at-war,-1914-1918/enfield-no-3-mk-i-bolt-action-rifle.aspx

Some Second World War-produced Enfields feature kiln-dried walnut, beech or birch stocks, as supplies of seasoned walnut became increasingly difficult to obtain.

Beech stocks were also used by Poland, the USSR, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden.

Beech is used today to stock many air rifles, and on mid-priced sporting rifles from CZ in the Czech Republic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.175.209.147 (talk) 16:54, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

What does "fill in" mean?

I have put a tag in the lead. This is not a term I have come across before and my Collins dictionary definition is not satisfactory; I assume it means "come to maturity", am I right anyone? Jodosma (talk) 11:24, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

I have removed the sentence entirely. It is interesting that it was added in April 2013 yet the same sentence appears here on September 26 2012 suggesting a possible copyright violation.  Velella  ^{Velella Talk}   13:06, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

Revise "Continental Europe"

This description is far too oriented to the situation in Scandinavia:

The common European beech (Fagus sylvatica) grows naturally in Denmark and southern Norway and Sweden up to about the 57:th – 59:th northern latitude. The most northern known naturally growing (not planted) beech trees are found in a few very small forests around the city of Bergen on the west coast of Norway with the North Sea nearby. Near the city of Larvik is the largest naturally occurring beech forest in Norway. Planted beeches are grown much farther north along the Norwegian coast.

At the Eastern edge of its range in Poland beech woods are replaced further east by other broad-leaved deciduous woods, such as the old-growth oak woods on the Poland-Belarus border. At the southern edge of its range in the Iberian peninsula beech is restricted to higher elevations, and is generally replaced by sclerophyllous broad-leaved trees such as Holm Oak.

As these sections pertain to individual beech species they may be better in the species articles. A general overview of the distribution of Beech species (preferably with a map) is probably more suitable here. Semudobia (talk) 10:17, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

Beech gall wasp

No mention is made of the beech gall wasp (mikiola fagi), for which there is also no article. Can anyone help to fill these gaps? --TraceyR (talk) 22:57, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

French Wikipedia link for the start: fr:Mikiola fagi. --Djadjko (talk) 01:18, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Nut toxicity

See also: Talk:Fagus sylvatica § Toxic substances

More info wanted on the substances making raw nuts somewhat poisonous. --Djadjko (talk) 01:14, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Beech / Fagus sylvatica

There's a separate article on 'Fagus sylvatica' (which is basically the same tree). It contains different information, and has different language links - for instance, there's a link from Slovenian 'Bukev' to 'Fagus sylvatica', but not to 'Beech', and a link back to the Slovenian article from the former but not from the latter. The two English articles should surely be merged, and it seems a little perverse to have articles about common trees with everyday names (such as 'beech') called by the Latin name, which very few readers will know (and hence look it up under). This is a common failing in Wikipedia!213.127.210.95 (talk) 13:42, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

The problem is that Beech refers to about 11 different species, of which Fagus sylvatica is just one. It would therefore be inappropriate to merge them.Plantsurfer 13:55, 3 April 2016 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Beechwood (disambiguation) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 21:49, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Repeats

This topic is a mess. So many direct cut and paste repeats and blocks of badly written text. Can someone please have a go at cleaning up all the duplication. With such a common family of trees, surely we can find some more context on this species. Whole books have been written about it. 86.180.252.223 (talk) 23:03, 2 January 2024 (UTC)