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
The Poem Tree The Poem Tree The Poem Tree was a beech tree with a poem carved into it by Joseph Tubb, located on Castle Hill at Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire, England. The tree, which was believed to be around 300 years old, collapsed through a combination of long-standing rot and inclement weather in July 2012. It died in the 1990s and after that, rotted completely while standing. The poem was carved in the 1840s. A stone, including a transcription and rubbing of the poem, was erected close to the tree in 1994 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the carving. Tubb carved