Beech Tree

Beech bark is extremely thin and scars easily. Since the beech tree has such delicate bark, carvings, such as lovers' initials and other forms of graffiti, remain because the tree is unable to heal itself. The fruit is a small, sharply three–angled nut 10–15 mm long, borne singly or in pairs in soft-spined husks. The husk can have a variety of spine- to scale-like appendages. The nuts are edible, though bitter (though not nearly as bitter as acorns) with a high tannin content, and are called beechnuts. They were not tasty raw.