A popular high-grade wood
Beech is a hard wood species. The wood is pale to reddish-brown in color, with pink or orange overtones that become golden over time. This wood has a straight grain and dense figuring. Beech is available with lots of knots or with almost no knots. Beech is used for furniture, flooring, wooden toys and popsicle sticks as it is very soft when planed. Kährs Beech flooring conveys a sense of air and calm.
In the shadow of more famous trees
Beech is what is known as a shadow plant which can both give and withstand deep shadow. Its large branches block out the sunlight and shadow the ground, making it difficult for trees, bushes and herbs to exist there.
Find out more about Beech here:
A Beech, but not for sunbathing
Beech is a large, noble tree with a dense crown consisting of branches growing horizontally in several layers. The bark of the Beech tree is a characteristic silver-grey color. The leaves are mostly a fresh, shiny green — and you can even eat them! The leaves grow horizontally so that they can absorb the maximum amount of sunlight available. The dense growth of Beech lets almost no light through; this makes old Beech forests so dark that you can barely read a book there even in the middle of the day. This also affects the vegetation beneath the trees making it difficult for bushes and other trees to survive there. Beneath the Beech soil is also affected. It dries out and becomes peaty and poor in plants and herbs.
Beech is what is known as a monoecious plant and has both male and female flowers on the same tree. Beechnuts are three-sided nuts that are spread in autumn by squirrels and small birds just before the leaves start to fall.
Heavy wood sinks in water
Beech is what is known as a high-grade wood and is often planted in parks and gardens due to its beauty.
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Beech (Lat. Fagus sylvatica)
Family:
Beech (Lat. Fagaceae)
Size:
Beech can grow to more than 40 m in height and have a circumference of around 5 m.
Ready to cut down:
100-120 years
Origin of Kährs Beech flooring:
Sweden
Hardness:
Softer than Oak. Brinell value: 3.7
Color change:
Pink/tan becomes more golden over time.
Random fact:
Beech leaves can be eaten, and historically Beechnuts have been used as an important feed for domesticated animals such as pigs. It is said that Johan Gutenberg discovered the art of book printing by seeing pieces of Beech bark leaving dark traces on white paper.