Tree Tour
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Tree Tour
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Color is the operative word for this tree. European beech is a gigantic shade tree, produces tiny nuts, and is a frequently planted ornamental because of its beauty, which is of the grand scale. Silvery, smooth bark on a great large trunk distinguishes beeches even in winter. The bluntish leaves are shaped approximately like an egg in outline. Since most of the nuts are hollow, and squirrels eat most that are not, beeches are not valued on that account. Related to oaks, its wood is less useful.
In this specimen, on the HUB lawn near Thompson Hall, the leaves are copper colored instead of the normal green. Next to the Art building (near the cedar of Lebanon and the English Holly) is a dark purple variant.