beech, beeche, beche

[A.S. bece, beoce, boc; Sw. bok, bokträd; Icel. bók = a beech-tree, beyki = a collection of beech trees, a beech-wood; Dan. bög, bögetræ; Dut. beuk, beukeboom; N. H. Ger. buche; M. Η. Ger. buoche; O. H. Ger. puocha; Ru . buk '; Port. faia; Ital. faggio, Lat. fag us; Gr. φηγός ( phēgos ); Gael faibhle = beech wood; Arm. fao, fav; Wel. ffawyd. The Anglo-Saxon bece or boc, meaning beech, seems connected with bec and boc = a book, as if at one period or other our ancestors had used some portion of the beech-tree, perhaps the smooth bark, as writing material.] A tree, the Fagus sylvatic a, or the genus Fagus to which it belongs. It is ranked under the order Corylaceæ (Mastworts). The nuts are triquetrous, and are placed in pairs within the enlarged prickly involucre. They are called mast, and are devoured in autumn by swine and deer. The wood is brittle and not very lasting, yet it is used by turners, joiners, and millwrights. The fine thin bark is employed for making baskets and bandboxes. The country people in some parts of France put the leaves under mattre es instead of straw, their elasticity rendering them well adapted for such a purpose. (a) The Australian beech is Tectona Aus tralis , a kind of teak. (b) The beech of New South Wales: Monotica elliptic a , an Epicrad. (c) The Blue or Water -beech: Carp in us Ameri can a, a kind of hornbeam. (d) * The Dutch Beech : Populus alba . (e) The Horn Beech: Carpinces betulus. (f) The Sea -side Beech: A name given in Jamaica to the Exostemma Caribœum, Cinchonad. (g) The Water Beech. [BLUE-BEECH.] ( freas . of Bot .)