| Weeping beech | |
|---|---|
 Weeping beech, Chateau-sur-Mer, Newport, Rhode Island | |
| Species | Fagus sylvatica |
| Cultivar group | Pendula Group |
The weeping beech, Fagus sylvatica 'Pendula', is a cultivar of the deciduous European beech. [1] The original tree was found in the grounds of an English park, and it has been propagated by grafting, then many distributed widely. [2]
The weeping beech is characterized by its shape with sweeping, pendulous branches. The trunk of the tree may not be visible from a distance due to the presence of the covering "weeping" branches. Branches may reach the ground and start new roots again. Smaller than the common beech, the tree can reach a height of up to 25 metres (82 ft) and tends to be wider than high. [3]
Leaves of the weeping beech are broad, flat, simple and not lobed. They have smooth margins and alternate. They typically measure 5–10 centimetres (2.0–3.9 in) in length. Flowers appear in the spring and are inconspicuous. [4]
The beechnuts sit in a thin spiny husk and are less than 5 cm in diameter. [5] The triangular beech nuts are popular in autumn with birds, mice and squirrels.[ citation needed ]
The green leaves become copper-toned in the fall. In winter the skeleton of the silvery stem with its branches remains attractive.[ citation needed ] The purple pigment in the leaves acts like a sunscreen to protect its new leaves, which is particularly important for plants that grow at high altitudes where the sun is fierce.
The tree is not native to North America but grows in USDA hardiness zones 4–7. [4] It needs moisture and well drained soil and prefers sunny to semi-shaded zones. The tree does not tolerate industrial pollution or street salt.[ citation needed ]
Young trees need to be staked to make them grow upward; growth tends to be slow. Weeping beeches may live for 150 to 200 years.[ citation needed ]
Pests that can attack the tree includes aphids, borers (flat-headed apple tree borer, two-lined chestnut borer), certain caterpillars, and fungal disease. [4]
The Fagaceae are a family of flowering plants that includes beeches, chestnuts and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. Fagaceae in temperate regions are mostly deciduous, whereas in the tropics, many species occur as evergreen trees and shrubs. They are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (cupule) nuts. Their leaves are often lobed, and both petioles and stipules are generally present. Their fruits lack endosperm and lie in a scaly or spiny husk that may or may not enclose the entire nut, which may consist of one to seven seeds. In the oaks, genus Quercus, the fruit is a non-valved nut called an acorn. The husk of the acorn in most oaks only forms a cup in which the nut sits. Other members of the family have fully enclosed nuts. Fagaceae is one of the most ecologically important woody plant families in the Northern Hemisphere, as oaks form the backbone of temperate forest in North America, Europe, and Asia, and are one of the most significant sources of wildlife food.
Beech (Fagus) is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Eurasia and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, Engleriana and Fagus. The Engleriana subgenus is found only in East Asia, distinctive for its low branches, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. The better known Fagus subgenus beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and smooth silver-grey bark. The European beech is the most commonly cultivated.
Quercus velutina, the black oak, is a species of oak in the red oak group, native and widespread in eastern and central North America. It is sometimes called the eastern black oak.
Fraxinus excelsior, known as the ash, or European ash or common ash to distinguish it from other types of ash, is a flowering plant species in the olive family Oleaceae. It is native throughout mainland Europe east to the Caucasus and Alborz mountains, and Great Britain and Ireland, the latter determining its western boundary. The northernmost location is in the Trondheimsfjord region of Norway. The species is widely cultivated and reportedly naturalised in New Zealand and in scattered locales in the United States and Canada.
The Wych Elm cultivar Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii', commonly known as the Camperdown Elm, was discovered about 1835–1840 as a young contorted elm growing in the forest at Camperdown House, in Dundee, Scotland, by the Earl of Camperdown's head forester, David Taylor. The young tree was lifted and replanted within the gardens of Camperdown House where it remains to this day. The original tree, which grows on its own roots, is less than 3 m tall, with a weeping habit and contorted branch structure. The earl's gardener is said to have produced the first of what are commonly recognised as Camperdown elms by grafting a cutting to the trunk of a wych elm.
Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech is a large, graceful deciduous tree in the beech family with smooth silvery-gray bark, large leaf area, and a short trunk with low branches.
Betula pendula, commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found at higher altitudes. Its range extends into Siberia, China, and southwest Asia in the mountains of northern Turkey, the Caucasus, and northern Iran. It has been introduced into North America, where it is known as the European white birch or weeping birch and is considered invasive in some states in the United States and parts of Canada. The tree can also be found in more temperate regions of Australia.
Betula pubescens, commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia, growing farther north than any other broadleaf tree. It is closely related to, and often confused with, the silver birch, but grows in wetter places with heavier soils and poorer drainage; smaller trees can also be confused with the dwarf birch.
Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is the only species of beech native to North America. Its current range comprises the eastern United States, isolated pockets of Mexico and southeastern Canada. Prior to the glacial maximum of the Pleistocene epoch, the tree flourished over most of North America, reaching California.
Fagus orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental beech, is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Eurasia, in Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
The dwarf beech, Fagus sylvatica Tortuosa Group, is a rare cultivar group of the European Beech with fewer than 1500 older specimens in Europe. It is also known as twisted beech or parasol beech.
Salix babylonica is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China, but cultivated for millennia elsewhere in Asia, being traded along the Silk Road to southwest Asia and Europe.
Pyrus salicifolia is a species of pear, native to the Middle East. It is widely grown as an ornamental tree, almost always as a pendulous cultivar, and is called by various common names, including willow-leaved pear, weeping pear, and similar. The tree is deciduous and of comparatively small stature, rarely reaching 10–12 meters in height. The crown is rounded. It has pendulous, silvery foliage, superficially similar to a weeping willow. The flowers are large and pure white highlighted with black-tipped stamens although the buds are tipped with red. The small green fruits are inedible, being hard and astringent.
The New Canaan Nature Center is a botanical garden, arboretum and nature preserve located at 144 Oenoke Ridge, Route 124, about .25 miles (0.40 km) north of the center of New Canaan, Connecticut.
The Siberian Elm cultivar Ulmus pumila 'Pendula' is from northern China, where it is known as Lung chao yü shu. It was classified by Frank Meyer in Fengtai in 1908, and introduced to the United States by him from the Peking Botanical Garden as Weeping Chinese Elm. The USDA plant inventory record (1916) noted that it was a "rare variety even in China". It was confirmed as an U. pumila cultivar by Krüssmann (1962).
The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Pendula' was said to have been raised in Belgium in 1863. It was listed as Ulmus sativa pendula by C. de Vos in 1887, and by Boom in 1959 as a cultivar.
Weeping trees are trees characterized by soft, limp twigs. This characterization may lead to a bent crown and pendulous branches that can cascade to the ground. While weepyness occurs in nature, most weeping trees are cultivars. Because of their shape, weeping trees are popular in landscaping; generally they need a lot of space and are solitary so that their effect is more pronounced. There are over a hundred different types of weeping trees. Some trees, such as the cherry, have a variety of weeping cultivars. There are currently around 550 weeping cultivars in 75 different genera, although many have now disappeared from cultivation.
Central Europe contains several life zones, depending on location and elevation.
A Fau de Verzy is either a Dwarf Beech, a dwarf oak tree, or a dwarf chestnut tree. These grow in the forest of Verzy, 25 km south of Reims in France. In this forest are less than a thousand dwarf beeches, some dozen dwarf oaks and some dwarf chestnuts, but this article speaks in the main about dwarf beeches.
The Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula' also called Weeping Higan Cherry grows 20 to 30 feet tall and spreads 15 to 25 feet in a weeping habit. Leaves stay glossy green throughout the summer and into the fall when they turn a vivid yellow before leaving the tree bare in winter. The Weeping Higan Cherry blooms in the spring, having light pink flowers that cover the branches before the leaves emerge. They are not native to North America but grow in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 8.
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