Index / Search / Fagus grandifolia

§1 Plant

Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.

vernacular American beech — species · Fagaceae


USDA
FAGR
GBIF
2882274
Rank
species
American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Platephotograph · Sara RallCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Fagaceae Dumort.
Genus
Fagus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 781 counties across 20 states/territories
Legend Native · 781 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-44 °F minimum
Frost-free days
92 min.
Precipitation
28–80 in/yr
pH range
4.1–7.2
Root depth
32 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Long
Mature height
80 ft
Height @ 20 y
30 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Dense
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
1,600
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Palatable, human
Yes
Lumber
Yes
Fuelwood
Medium
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 781 counties across 20 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 66 N
Arkansas view state ↗ 36 N
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N
Florida view state ↗ 16 N
Georgia view state ↗ 47 N
Kentucky view state ↗ 118 N
Louisiana view state ↗ 37 N
Maine view state ↗ 16 N
Massachusetts view state ↗ 14 N
Mississippi view state ↗ 59 N
New Hampshire view state ↗ 10 N
New Jersey view state ↗ 20 N
New York view state ↗ 42 N
North Carolina view state ↗ 67 N
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 66 N
Rhode Island view state ↗ 3 N
Vermont view state ↗ 12 N
Virginia view state ↗ 100 N
West Virginia view state ↗ 50 N

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/FAGR ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2882274 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T05:45:41Z