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 Settlement congregation in 1840. Mount Pleasant Beech Church, also known as the Old Beech Church, initially formed in 1832; it was the birthplace of the Indiana Conference of the AME. Church, which organized and held its first annual meeting at Blue River, Indiana, on October 2, 1840. The Mount Pleasant Beech Church meetinghouse has served as the site for the community's annual reunions since 1914. The arrival of railroads provided Beech settlers with wider access to markets beyond Ripley Township. The Knightstown and Shelbyville Railroad was completed in 1850. Local roads provided Beech Settlement with access to its depots at Knightstown,