Geocache Description:
Dendrology Series, Cache #5, American Beech
This is a series of caches to encourage folks to get to know trees and how to identify them. As geocachers, we interact with trees all the time, so why not learn more about them!
You will find this cache under a:
American Beech
Scientific name: Fagus grandifolia
Also Known As: North American Beech
Beeches are a common forest tree, native to Michigan and most of the eastern United States. This tree is characterized by simple leaves with 11-14 pairs of veins, and each vein ending in a sharp distinct tooth. Look closely and you will find the leaves are slightly hairy on the underside. Before the leaves come out in the spring, beech can also be identified by its large, pointy alternate buds, which look like thorns, and smooth gray bark covering the entire tree. Beech is the only North American tree with this distinctive light gray smooth bark, which is present even on the largest trunks. Beech wood is used for a wide variety of purposes, most notably bentwood furniture as the wood easily bends when steamed. It also makes high quality, long-burning firewood.
Additional information: Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation
FUN FACT: Beech nuts are edible, but they don't produce nuts until the trees are approximately 30 years old!
Other trees in the immediate vicinity of this cache: white pine, sugar maple, red maple