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(small)
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This is a small camo container suitable to the location. It is on the scenic Knockahollet Rd which runs from the A44 Drones Rd up to the village of Loughgiel (there are several variant spellings of the name of this N. Antrim village, this is my choice). BYOP, you might need tweezers.
You must locate a large beech tree.
Common beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a large, deciduous tree, native to southern England and South Wales.
It also thrives throughout central and western Europe. It usually grows on drier, free-draining soils, such as chalk, limestone and light loams. Beech woodland is shady and is characterised by a dense carpet of fallen leaves and mast husks, which prevent most woodland plants from growing. Only specialist shade tolerant plants can survive beneath a beech canopy.
What does beech look like?
Mature trees grow to a height of more than 40m, and develop a huge domed crown. The bark is smooth, thin and grey, often with slight horizontal etchings. The reddish brown, torpedo-shaped leaf buds form on short stalks, and have a distinctive criss-cross pattern.
Young leaves are lime green with silky hairs, which become darker green and lose their hairs as they mature. They are 4–9cm long, stalked, oval and pointed at the tip, with a wavy edge.
Beech is monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers grow on the same tree, in April and May. The tassel-like male catkins hang from long stalks at the end of twigs, while female flowers grow in pairs, surrounded by a cup. This cup becomes woody once pollinated, and encloses one or two beech nuts (known as beechmast). Beech is wind pollinated.
Interesting fact: beech can live for hundreds of years with coppiced stands living for more than 1000 years.
Value to wildlife
Due to its dense canopy, rarer plant species are associated with beech woodland, such as box, red helleborine, coralroot bitter-cress, and a variety of orchids. It makes an important habitat for many butterflies, including the grizzled skipper, Duke of Burgundy and white admiral.
Beech foliage is eaten by the caterpillars of a number of moths, including the barred hook-tip, clay triple-lines and olive crescent. The seeds are eaten by mice, voles, squirrels and birds.
Because beech trees live for so long they provide habitats for many deadwood specialists such as hole-nesting birds and wood-boring insects. The bark is often home to a variety of fungi, mosses and lichens.
Mythology and symbolism
There is little folklore relating to beech. However, in Celtic mythology, Fagus was the god of beech trees. It was thought to have medicinal properties – beech leaves were used to relieve swellings, and boiling the leaves could make a poultice.
How we use beech
Beech timber is used for a variety of purposes, including fuel, furniture, cooking utensils, tool handles and sports equipment. The wood burns well and was traditionally used to smoke herring. The edible nuts, or masts, were once used to feed pigs, and in France they are still sometimes roasted and used as a coffee substitute.
Beech makes a popular hedging plant. If clipped it doesn't shed its leaves, and provides a year-round dense screen, which provides a great habitat for garden birds.
Threats
Beech trees are sometimes susceptible to root rot from a variety of fungal pathogens, including Phytophthora. Some trees can suffer from beech bark disease, caused by a combination of a sap-sucking scale insect (Cryptococcus fagisuga) and canker fungus (Nectria coccinea). Severe infestations can kill affected trees. It is also very vulnerable to bark stripping by grey squirrels.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvqqra sebz gur ebnq, lbh znl unir gb ebbg nebhaq gb fvta gur ybt.