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
Beech transferred to the oak tree (e.g. Iliad 16.767) as a result of the absence of beech trees in Greece. Beech grows on a wide range of soil types, acidic or basic, provided they are not waterlogged. The tree canopy casts dense shade, and carpets the ground thickly with leaf litter. In North America, they often form beech-maple climax forests by partnering with the sugar maple. The beech blight aphid ("Grylloprociphilus imbricator") is a common pest of American beech trees. Beeches are also used as food plants by some species of Lepidoptera. Beech bark is extremely thin and scars easily. Since