Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Netherlands

Common name: Varenbeuk, varenbladige beuk, Fern-leaved Beech

Family: Fagaceae (Beech family)

Life form: Tree

Comments: Beeches grow in the wild in Europe. The fern-leaved beech in our garden, planted around 1818, is a tree that can grow up to 20 metres or more in height, with a very dense crown and thick trunk. The bark is extremely thin. In order to protect the cambium directly underneath the bark against the heat of the sun, beeches produce a very dense crown. The cultivar ‘Aspleniifolia’, meaning fern-leaved, has leaves that vary a great deal in shape. Sometimes one leaf type predominates, but usually all transitions from normal, via serrated, to very thin linear leaves can be seen on the tree. Beeches develop leaves in April and flower around the same time. In autumn, the spiked beechnuts appear. In spring, various naturalised spring flowers grow under the fern-leaved beech, such as holewort, common star of Bethlehem and ramsons.