Introduction
Several weeks ago we decided to go camping for an evening here at Muskegon State Park. It was our first time visiting and we had a lovely time hanging out and exploring the park. We also picked up a few of the just-published State Park 100th Anniversary Celebration Geocaches.
Right away, we noticed the cute ice cream shop located at the North end of the campground. The next morning we decided it would be a good idea to place hide a geocache were campers and visitors to the ice cream shop could both make an easy find. So here it is: Hangin’ on the Beech!
The Geocache
We wanted this to be both winter and kid friendly and we needed this to require as little maintenance as possible since we live about 40 minutes away; We chose the place a camo’d bison tube about five feet up in a small Beech Tree at the edge of the woods. Please leave the cap on the tree while extracting the log.
The Beech
This park has a huge number of wonderful Beech Trees. I love the look of these trees, probably because they always seem so clean cut with their smooth bark and crisp well-defined bright green leaves.
These trees are officially classified as the American Beech (Fagus grandifolia). This species is native to eastern North America. The Beech is an economically important timber tree and is also often planted as an ornamental tree. Some grow as tall as 30 meters (100 feet) and they have smooth steel-gray bark. The narrow, toothed, and blue-green leaves of the American beech have parallel leaves and are they are usually about 5 inches long. In the Fall they turn a lovely shade of yellow.
We don’t often think of trees as having flowers because tree flowers are usually quite small and have green petals, but they are worth noting. The male flowers of the Beech Tree are yellow-green and hang from threadlike stems. The female flowers hang on short hairy stems and are found on the same tree as the male flowers. The female flowers form in pairs and develop into prickly burrs enclosing one or two three-sided sweet-flavored nuts.
There are also quite a few varieties of Beech trees that are planted or ornamentally. One of the most striking that I have seen is the Copper Beech, which looks like a regular Beech in form, but has copper colored leaves. I believe this is actually a variety of the European Beech as are many if the other ornamental Beeches.
Beeches grow best in sandy loam, which is why this area, by the beaches of Lake Michigan, is so well suited for them. They are slow-growing but may live to 400 years or more!!! Propagation is usually by seed, but the shallow spreading root system often sends up suckers (new tiny trees) that may grow into thickets.
A Series of Tree Themed Geocaches
Several years ago I (The Papa) really got into learning about the different kinds of trees that exist in Michigan. I still really enjoy identifying trees when I am out and about so seemed like a good idea to start a series of tree hides that also include information about the tree of geocaching choice. I will start a public list/bookmark with the caches in this series for anyone who is interested located here: http://bit.ly/MeaptasticTrees
To find out more about the Beech Tree check out
Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/plant/beech
or Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech
Enjoy the Ice Cream, the Beech and your time with Family and friends in the area!
Meap!