Mast (botany) some domestic animals consume. Mast is found in two forms. Mast is generated in large quantities during mast seeding events (or masting, mast events). Mast seeding is a population-level phenomenon that is hypothesized to be driven by economies of scale, weather, and resources. These pulses of resources drive ecosystem-level functions and dynamics. Tree species such as oak, hickory, and beech produce a hard mast—acorns, hickory nuts, and beechnuts. It has been traditional to turn pigs loose into forests to fatten on this form of mast. Other tree and shrub species produce a soft mast, such as raspberries, blueberries, and greenbriar.
The Weeping Beech had grown to a spread of 85’ and a height of 65’. The girth of the trunk was 14’ and that year it was designated a living landmark. Parsons, of namesake nearby Parsons Blvd, supplied most of the original trees and shrubs in Manhattans Central Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. By 1998 the tree had been in decline for 30 years and had suffered injections of fertilizer to prolong its 151-year life, but to no avail. It was taken down in 1999 and its progeny, seven of which are in the tree grove at Weeping Beech Park, are all