Its bark makes a common beech unmistakable. In forests, trees stand out because of their light gray shimmer and very smooth-looking bark. A fine dust is often found under copper beeches. This is the crumbling cork. Interesting facts about the bark of European beech trees.
How do you recognize the bark of a European beech?
The bark of the common beech is particularly characterized by its striking silver gray and its smooth surface. In young trees the bark is dark green to black, while with age it becomes lighter and appears finely cracked.
Identify European beech by its bark
- Young trees: dark green to black bark
- older trees: gray to silver-gray bark
- smooth
- finely cracked
- larger cracks in old trees
- Bark doesn't fall off
The bark of the young beech tree
Young copper beeches can be recognized by the fact that the bark is not yet the typical silver-grey. The bark of young trees is dark green, almost black. At this time the bark is still completely smooth and completely free of cracks.
Cork cannot be removed into scales
On most trees, the bark forms thick scales, the so-called cork, which can be detached from the tree. However, in the case of the common beech, the cork does not become flaky and cannot be removed as a whole.
The cork or phellem instead crumbles and falls off. Over time it forms a thin layer that covers the ground around the copper beech.
The bark of copper beeches changes with age
The older the European beech tree gets, the lighter the color of the trunk becomes. The bark turns light gray. The scars from fallen branches are clearly visible.
The trunk diameter can grow up to two meters. The bark is torn open by fine longitudinal grooves. The bark is not as coarse and clearly grained as, for example, oak or other forest trees.
The bark of the common beech tree hardly offers any shelter for insects. Pests also cannot penetrate the tree through the uninjured bark. However, the trunk of the common beech is sensitive to sunlight and therefore grows best when the lower area is protected by undergrowing trees, such as hornbeams.
Tip
Common beeches with very thick and cracked bark can occasionally be found in beech forests. This is a slightly different variety of the common beech, the stone beech with the botanical name Fagus sylvatica var.quercoides. However, it should not be confused with the hornbeam, which is also sometimes referred to as the stone beech because of its hard wood.
