Oriental Beech
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| Fagus orientalis Lipsky |
The Oriental Beech (Fagus orientalis) is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. The natural range extends from northwest Turkey east to the Caucasus and Alborz Mountains. It is restricted to mountain forests, at 500-2,100 m altitude. It is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to 45 m tall and 3m trunk diameter, though more typically 25-35 m tall and up to 1.5 m trunk diameter. It is closely related to the European Beech (F. sylvatica), and intergrades with it in the Balkans and northwest Turkey; these hybrids with European Beech are named Fagus x taurica.
The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a slightly crenate margin, 7-15 cm long and 5-9 cm broad, with 7-13 veins on each side of the leaf (6-7 veins in F. sylvatica). The buds are long and slender, 15-30 mm long and 2-3 mm thick, but thicker (to 4-5 mm) where the buds include flower buds.
The flowers are small catkins which appear shortly after the leaves in spring. The seeds are small triangular nuts 15-20 mm long and 7-10 mm wide at the base; there are two nuts in each cupule, maturing in the autumn 5-6 months after pollination; the cupule differs from that of European Beech in having flattened, slightly leaf-like appendages at the base (slender, soft spines in European Beech).
