Scientific Name:
Fagus sylvatica
'Dawyck Gold'
Pronunciation:
FAY-gus sil-VAT-ih-kuh
Common Name:
gold columnar beech
Family Name:
Fagaceae
Plant Type:
Tree - deciduous
Key ID Features:
Tall, narrow, deciduous tree, upright branching with pendulous tips; leaves alternate, broadly elliptic, most blades 4-7cm long x 3-5cm wide, glossy, margins entire, undulate, and often ciliate, 5-9 pairs of parallel major vein, emerge gold changing to bright green over summers, petiole 5-10mm long; buds are long, pointed, spear-like; smooth grey (elephant skin) bark with horizontal lines. Winter ID: columnar form; bark smooth, silver-grey, with a horizontal pattern (like an elephant's leg); buds with few scales, narrowly conical, most 1-2.5cm long x 4-5mm wide, pointed, spear-like, divergent, reddish-brown with grey fuzz.
Habit:
Dense, Fastigiate, Twiggy, Upright
Form:
Columnar, Oval - vertical
Texture:
Medium
Mature Height:
15 - 22m
Mature Spread:
5 - 7m
Growth Rate:
Moderate
Origin:
Europe, Garden origin
Hardiness Rating:
Zone 5: (-29 to -23 °C)
Exposure:
Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil/Growing Medium:
Well-drained
Water Use:
Moderate
Landscape Uses:
Fall interest, Hedge row, Shade tree, Small garden/space, Specimen plant, Spring interest, Street (boulevard tree), Tall background, Wind break
Additional Info:
Leaf Morphology:
Form:
Simple
Arrangement:
Alternate
Texture/Venation:
Soft flexible, Heavily veined, Pinnate venation
Surfaces:
Lustrous, Pubescent, Glandular hairs
Colour in Summer:
Green, Yellow, :Leaves golden in spring turning to bright green in summer
Colour in Fall:
Yellow
Shapes:
Elliptic
Apices:
Acute
Bases:
Cuneate
Margins:
Crenate, Entire, Undulate (wavy)
Additional Info:
Spectacular fall colour, 5 - 7cm long
Inflorescence Type:
Catkin (ament)
Flower Morphology:
Monoecious plant
Number Of Petals:
0
Ovary Position:
Inferior
Colour (petals):
Not showy, Green-yellow
Flower Time at Peak:
Apr, May
Fruit Type:
Nut
Fruit Colour:
Brown
Fruiting Time:
Sep, Oct
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
Leaf Bud Type:
Narrowly conical
Leaf Scar Shape:
Half-round
Organ Modifications:
Ectomycorrhizal with species of Amanita, Boletus, Cantharellus, Hebeloma and Lactarius.
Propagation:
Grafting
Maintenance:
Low
Pest Susceptibility:
(Pest resistant, Disease resistant)
Course(s):
- HORT 2355
Location(s):
- (AGB) Acer Griseum Bed : q.1
- (BHE) Boulevard by Hwy. 10 Eastend
- (FEA) Field lab Equipment Area