Weeping beech measure in length. Flowers appear in the spring and are inconspicuous. The beechnuts sit in a thin spiny husk and are less than 5 cm in diameter. The triangular beech nuts are popular in autumn with birds, mice and squirrels. The green leaves become copper-toned in the fall. In winter the skeleton of the silvery stem with its branches remains attractive. 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
Beech bark disease Beech bark disease Beech bark disease is a disease that causes mortality and defects in beech trees in the eastern United States and Europe. In North America, the disease occurs after extensive bark invasion by the beech scale insect, "Cryptococcus fagisuga". Through a presently unknown mechanism, excessive feeding by this insect causes two different fungi ("Neonectria faginata" (previously "Nectria coccinea var. faginata") and "Neonectria ditissima" (previously "Nectria galligena")) to produce annual cankers on the bark of the tree. The continuous formation of lesions around the tree eventually girdles it, resulting in canopy death. In Europe, "N. coccinea" is the primary