American Beech

Scientific Name: Castanea pumila
Common Name: Alleghany chinkapin or chinquapin
Plant Family: Fagaceae (Beech family)

Etymology: The genus name, Fagus, comes from Latin term for “beech”, while grandifolia is derived from grandis meaning “large/grand” and folium meaning “leaf.”

Indigenous Uses

The Iroquois used the American Beech as a source of food, consuming the nuts crushed as a type of cornmeal, drinking liquid made by stewing the nuts, and by eating the nuts on their own.

Medicinal Uses

A salve could be made using American Beech which was used by indigenous people to treat conditions such as sores, burns, and rashes from poison ivy.

Edible Parts

Young leaves can be consumed, as well as the beechnuts, but only when they are not raw. Beechnuts can be roasted, and ground acting like coffee or can be milled into flour.

Gathering and Using

Young leaves can be collected in the spring, whereas beechnuts can be collected in the fall.

Permaculture Functions and Considerations

American Beeches have many great qualities and can provide medicine, food, shade and materials for people and animals. Beech trees are one of the only nut-bearing trees in the northern hardwood forests and freely spread via beechnuts.

How to Identify

American Beech trees have smooth gray bark, which can unfortunately have graffiti etched into them. The leaves are a dark green, egg-shaped, and have coarse teeth, with the length between 3-6”. Twigs are hairless with stipule scars located at each leaf scar. The tree flowers in April-May and gives way to small triangular nuts enclosed in spiny bracts in the fall.

Wildlife Support

The nuts are consumed by various gamebirds such as turkeys, quails and pheasants, as well as mammals such as black bears, foxes, squirrels, deer, and raccoons. Various bird species eat the nuts including blue jays, woodpeckers, sparrows and nuthatches. Hawks, American Redstarts, and Wood Ducks use the American Beech as a nest site; thrushes, veery’s, warblers, and owls breed where American Beeches are a component of the habitat.

Additional Information

American Beech trees are shade intolerant and considered a climax species as they appear further along in ecological succession.

Sources

• Petrides, G. A., & Wehr, J. (1998). A field guide to Eastern Trees: Eastern United States and Canada, including the Midwest. Houghton Mifflin.

Web Sources

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• Adirondack Forever Wild. (n.d.). Trees of the Adirondacks: American Beech (fagus grandifolia). American Beech | Fagus grandifolia. https://wildadirondacks.org/trees-of-the-adirondacks-american-beech-fagus-grandifolia.html

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  North Carolina State University. (n.d.). Fagus grandifolia. Fagus grandifolia (American Beech, Beech, Beechnut Tree, Red Beech, Ridge Beech, White Beech) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/fagus-grandifolia/  

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  One Earth. (2023, January 27). American beech: How one species of tree dominates North America. One Earth. https://www.oneearth.org/species-of-the-week-american-beech/