Scientific Name:
Fagus sylvatica
Atropurpurea Group
Pronunciation:
FAY-gus sil-VAT-ih-kuh
Common Name:
copper beech, purple beech
Family Name:
Fagaceae
Plant Type:
Tree - deciduous
Key ID Features:
Leaves alternate, deltoid to ovate, glossy with margins entire, undulate, and often ciliate, dark red; fruit capsule-like, brown, bristly. Winter ID: bark smooth, silver-grey, with a horizontal pattern (like an elephant's leg); buds narrowly conical, most 1-2.5cm long x 4-5mm wide, pointed, spear-like, divergent, reddish-brown with grey fuzz.
Habit:
Upright
Form:
Pyramidal - widely
Texture:
Medium - coarse
Mature Height:
15 - 22m
Mature Spread:
10 - 15m
Growth Rate:
Fast
Origin:
Europe
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
Landscape Uses:
Fall interest, Shade tree, Specimen plant, Street (boulevard tree), Summer interest
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Heavily veined, Pinnate venation
Surfaces:
Glabrous
Colour in Summer:
Purple, Turns copper colour in fall
Colour in Fall:
Bronze
Shapes:
Elliptic, Ovate
Margins:
Undulate (wavy)
Additional Info:
Spectacular fall colour
Inflorescence Type:
Catkin (ament)
Flower Morphology:
Monoecious plant
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Inferior
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Red
Flower Time at Peak:
Apr, May
Additional Info:
Female flowers in pairs
Fruit Type:
Edible, Nut
Fruit Colour:
Fruiting Time:
Additional Info:
Accessory tissue, Edible, 3-angled nuts from compound ovary enclosed in prickly bracts that split open like a capsule
Bark Morphology:
Smooth
Bark or Stem Colour:
Grey, Brown
Leaf Bud Type:
Narrowly conical
Leaf Scar Shape:
Half-round
Organ Modifications:
Ectomycorrhizae, Ectomycorrhizal with species of Amanita, Boletus, Cantharellus, Hebeloma and Lactarius.
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant)
Course(s):
- not used (on campus)
Location(s):
- (BCE) Boulevard (Circular) Eastend : 75
- (BHE) Boulevard by Hwy. 10 Eastend : 549
- (ONE) Overpass North side East
- (ONW) Overpass North side West