Beech trees have a very characteristic trunk that makes them easy to recognize. Above all, the color of the trunk but also the few knotholes and cracks make a beech tree unmistakable. Interesting facts about the trunk of a beech tree.
What does the trunk of a beech tree look like?
The trunk of a beech tree is characterized by its silver-gray color, a thin, smooth bark with a few cracks and knotholes and a low level of bark formation. In the forest, beech trunks form a standard trunk and carry their crowns high up.
Characteristics of the trunk of a beech tree
- Size: up to 2 meters in diameter
- Color: initially dark green to black, later silver gray
- Bark: very smooth with few cracks, hardly any knotholes, very thin
- Bark: hardly any bark formation
The most important feature is the silver-gray color, which makes the tree distinctive.
Beech trunks have a very thin bark that only gets slightly thicker over the years. In contrast to other forest trees such as oaks, beech trees hardly develop any bark. The bark crumbles and falls off as gray dust. It covers the soil and provides a supply of nutrients.
Beeches get a standard tree in the forest
In the forest, the beech tree forms a high trunk. The crown starts high up. The prerequisite is low planting around the beech. The foliage of other trees must shade the trunk.
Because the bark is very thin, a free-standing beech tree gets sunburned very quickly. That's why the crown of trees that stand alone is much deeper.
Recognizing the age of the beech tree from the trunk
If you want to know how old a beech tree is, measure the trunk at a height of one meter. Multiply the result by 0.6 and you get the probable age of the beech. The result will be even more accurate if you take two measurements, at a height of one meter and at a height of 1.5 meters. Take the mean and also multiply it by 0, 6.
In very old trees that have been fully grown for a long time, the trunk no longer becomes thicker. Here the age can only be narrowed down more precisely based on the location and historical descriptions. Annual rings, as they occur in other tree trunks, are very minimal in the beech.
Tip
The wood of beech naturally has a slightly reddish shimmer. If it is steamed, the wood takes on the red tone that is particularly valued in furniture making. It is not as hard as that of the hornbeam.