BEECH

One of the forest trees of the north of Europe, the Fagus sylvatic a of botanists, belonging to the natural order Corylacete. Its fruit, or mast, consists of triangular nuts enclosed in a spiny husk or cupule, of the same nature as the cup of the acorn, only of a different shape, and covering the nuts all over. Its wood, which is hard and rather handsome, is brittle and perishable, and particularly liable to become worm eaten. It is chiefly used by turners and millwrights. The purple and copper beeches seen in plantations are seedling varieties of Fagus sylvatic a. BEE-EATER See Merops. [s. 152]