Beech | Fagus sylvatica
To the right of the former school building is a massive beech with a trunk circumference of no less than 3.5 metres.
Beeches are native to the Netherlands and belong to the so-called cupola family: the fruit is protected by a cupule. Beeches don't want to grow everywhere. The tree occurs in the final stage of forest development. The soil must be moist and well-drained. The groundwater level should not be too high, but not too dry either. The beech lives in symbiosis with a fungus. This means that without the fungus the tree has difficulty growing. Beeches can become large trees, in forests 35 meters is no exception! Due to the sour leaves and the dense crown, little will grow under a beech. Beech forests are therefore very open.