Beech cupules. The husk can have a variety of spine- to scale-like appendages, the character of which is, in addition to leaf shape, one of the primary ways beeches are differentiated. The nuts are edible, though bitter (though not nearly as bitter as acorns) with a high tannin content, and are called beechnuts or beechmast. The name of the tree (Latin "fagus", whence the species name; cognate with English "beech") is of Indo-European origin, and played an important role in early debates on the geographical origins of the Indo-European people. Greek φηγός is from the same root, but the word was
The Copper Beech The Copper Beech The Copper Beech is a 1992 novel by Irish author Maeve Binchy. Set in the 1950s and 1960s, the plot follows the lives of 12 different characters living in a small Irish town, in chapters with interlocking plot elements. The novel follows the lives of a group of young people in the small Irish town of Shancarrig, most of them graduates of the stone schoolhouse on the hill where they engraved their initials on a large copper beech tree. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of one of the characters, although the plot details often reappear