ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK ILPIN INFORMATION ON Fagus grandifolia caroliniana CLASS: DICOTYLEDENAE ORDER: FAGALES FAMILY: FAGACEAE SCIENTIFIC NAME: Fagus grandifolia caroliniana AUTHORITY: Ehrh. SUBSPECIFIC AUTHORITY: (Loud.) Fern. & Rehd. COMMON NAMES: AMERICAN BEECH BEECH SYNONOMY: None PLANTS CODE: FAGR NATURAL COMMUNITIES: FOREST UPLAND FOREST MESIC WET-MESIC LISTED DOMINANT WETLAND SWAMP TYPICAL SWAMP BORDER OF LAKE CULTURAL RESTORATION FOREST SAF FOREST COVER TYPE: CENTRAL Other Central Types listed Yellow Poplar Yellow Poplar/White Oak/Northern Red Oak NORTHERN Northern Hardwoods listed Sugar Maple Beech - Sugar Maple SOUTHERN Bottomland listed Swamp Chestnut Oak - Cherrybark Oak Other Southern types listed Sweetgum - Yellow poplar NATURAL DIVISION: Northeastern Morainal listed Southern Till Plain Effingham Plain Wabash Border Southern Uplands Vermilion River listed Ozark Central Southern listed Lower Miss. R. Bottomlands Southern listed Shawnee Hills Greater Shawnee Hills Lesser Shawnee Hills listed Coastal Plain Cretaceous Hills Bottomlands listed COUNTIES: ALEXANDER CLARK COOK CRAWFORD EDGAR EFFINGHAM GALLATIN HARDIN JACKSON JOHNSON LAKE LAWRENCE MADISON MASSAC POPE PULASKI RANDOLPH SALINE UNION VERMILION WABASH WHITE WILLIAMSON GROWTH FORM: Dicot-woody TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS: ROOTS: Primary LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate LEAF TYPE: Simple LEAF MARGIN: Serrate LEAF VENATION: Pinnate LEAF SHAPE: Oblong Ovate INFLORESCENCE: Head FLOWER STRUCTURE: Incomplete (no petals) FRUIT: Nut DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS: Staminate flowers in heads, pistillate flowers are paired; smooth, gray bark; long, pointed winter buds. GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION: ORIGIN: Native POPULATION DYNAMICS: STATE STATUS: Not listed FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed COMMONNESS: Occasional ENDEMIC: NOT-ENDEMIC BIOLOGIC: HABIT: Tree LIFE CYCLE: Perennial REPRODUCTION: Sexual Vegetative FLOWERING PERIOD: MONTH BEGINNING- 4 MONTH END- 5 TROPHIC STATUS: Autotrophic C02 FIXATION: C3 SEX: Unisexual -monoecious BIOLOGIC COMMENTS: Species often sends up suckers from its shallow root system. ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS: Species is distributed in rich woods, sometimes in swamps, near streams, wet lowlands. ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS: No data entered FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: MAJOR DISPERSAL AGENTS: BIRD MAMMAL -external MAJOR POLLINATION AGENT: Wind FUNCTIONAL DATA COMMENTS: Nuts are dispersed by blue jays (Johnson and Adkisson, 1985). HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA: ALLERGENIC: No EDIBLE: Yes SHOWY FLOWERS: YES AMOUNT: Low HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS: Nuts are edible; species plays an insignificant role in causing hayfever. WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION: FOOD VALUE: DEER VALUE: Good - Fruit Leaves Stems Buds UPLAND GAME VALUE: Good - Fruit Buds WATERFOWL VALUE: Good - Fruit SMALL NON-GAME BIRD VALUE: Good - Fruit SMALL MAMMAL VALUE: Good - Fruit AQUATIC MAMMAL VALUE: Good - Fruit FISH VALUE: Unknown COVER VALUE: DEER: No data WATERFOWL: No data SMALL MAMMAL: Good FISH: No data SMALL BIRD: Good UPLAND GAME: No data AQUATIC MAMMAL: No data WILDLIFE COMMENTS: This pertains to aquatic furbearers; terrestrial furbearers (esp. squirrels) who eat nuts. Regarding waterfowl food value, this pertains especially to wood ducks. Regarding small non-game bird food value, this pertains especially to tufted titmice. Regarding small mammals food value, this pertains especially to eastern chipmunks. LIVESTOCK PALATABILITY DATA: No data entered LIVESTOCK COMMENTS: Nuts are a favorite food of hogs. REVEGETATION PLANTINGS: SHORT-TERM REVEGETATION POTENTIAL: Poor LONG-TERM REVEGETATION POTENTIAL: Good SEED AVAILABILITY: Good PROCUREMENT COMMENTS: Seed company numbers: 2,19,20,28,29,30. PROPAGATION COMMENTS: Form - balled & burlapped. REFERENCES: Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed. 1975. Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 494 pp. Jones, G. N. 1963. Flora of Illinois. Third ed. American Midland Naturalist Monograph 7. University of Notre Dame, Indiana. 401 pp. Steyermark, J. A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State University Press, Ames. 1725 pp. Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist. 1963. Manual of vascular plants of north- eastern United States and adjacent Canada. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York. 810 pp. Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm. 1979. Plants of the Chicago region. Third ed. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. 922 pp. Anon. 1981. Illinois plants for habitat restoration. Illinois Department of Conservation, Mining Program. Springfield, Illinois. 61 pp. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Society of American Foresters (SAF), Washington, D.C., 148 pp. Schwegman, J. E., G. D. Fell, M. Hutchison, G. Paulson, W. M. Shepherd, and J. White. 1973. Comprehensive plan for the Illinois Nature Preserves System. Part 2 - The Natural Divisions of Illinois. Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Springfield. 32 pp., plus map. White, J., and M. H. Madany. 1978. Classification of natural communities in Illinois. Pages 309-405 in J. White, ed., Illinois natural areas inventory technical report. Vol. 1. Survey methods and results. Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, Urbana. Miller, R. B., and L. R. Tehon. 1929. The native and naturalized trees of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 18: 1-340. Mohlenbrock, R. H. 1980. Forest trees of Illinois. Third ed. Illinois Department of Conservation, Division of Forestry, Springfield. 331 pp. Downton, W. J. S. 1975. The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants. Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105. OTHER REFERENCES: Johnson, W. C., and C. S. Adkisson. 1985. Dispersal of beech nuts by blue jays in fragmented landscapes. American Midland Naturalist 113: 319- 324. END OF DATA FOR SPECIES Fagus grandifolia caroliniana ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820 *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015