Family: beeches (Fagaceae)
Flowering time: April–May
Height: up to 40 m
Habitat: forests
Common beech (Fagus sylvatica) is a well-known tree with a gray, mostly smooth bark. Its oval leaves with an entire, wavy margin are initially hairy on both sides, but later become glabrous. Like other beeches, the common beech is also a monoecious tree, meaning both female and male flowers develop on the same plant. Male flowers are grouped in round catkins hanging on long stalks, the female inflorescence consists of two flowers on a short upright peduncle. From them, after fertilization, develops a three-lobed fruit (nut). Two to three such nuts are surrounded by a woody, spiny husk, which we call the beech nut.
Beech grows on fresh, nutrient-rich soils throughout Slovenia, and the beech nut provides a rich source of fats for forest animals. Thus, in years when beech bears heavily, voles and other rodents multiply; birds, wild boars, roe deer, red deer and bears, that year with accumulated energy reserves, survive the winter more easily. Humans also value beech wood, as it is an excellent fuel and useful for a wide range of products, from toys to parquet. It should be noted that the shell of the triangular nut is poisonous!
