Common beech (Fagus sylvatica): what the forestry bodies record

This page reports what forestry bodies say about one tree. It does not identify trees from descriptions or photos and does not say what should be done with any tree. Each fact names its source, all read on October 9, 2026. The family overview is tree species in the agency records. A different disease of North American beech has its own page, beech leaf disease.

At a glance

Item	What the source records
Scientific name and family	Fagus sylvatica, family Fagaceae (Woodland Trust)
Origin in Britain	Native to southern Britain but naturalised elsewhere (Forest Research); truly native only in south-east England and south-east Wales (Woodland Trust)
Height	Mature trees of more than 40 m with a huge domed crown (Woodland Trust); the tallest native tree in the United Kingdom is a beech of 45 m, measured in 2018, in Derbyshire (Woodland Trust)
Rainfall and exposure	More than 700 mm of rain preferred; tolerant of exposure (Forest Research key properties)
Shade	Shade tolerant (Forest Research and EUFORGEN)

Range

Forest Research says common beech is native to southern Britain but naturalised elsewhere, and widely distributed across Europe from Scandinavia to Russia. It adds that in the south of its range it is a montane species growing at 600 to 1800 m. The Woodland Trust says its natural habitat extends from southern Sweden to northern Sicily. EUFORGEN, the European forest genetic resources programme, describes a wide continuous distribution from southern Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, and says beech forms dense, shade-tolerant stands that allow it to dominate many European forests.

Site, soil and drought

Forest Research says beech withstands wind exposure and is cold hardy, but its early flushing makes it open to frost damage when young. It grows on mineral soils of poor to medium nutrient status, including calcareous ones, but does not tolerate compacted, waterlogged or very dry soils. The entry says that despite its reputation on chalk and limestone downland, beech on calcareous soils can suffer lime-induced chlorosis. It says beech is shallow rooted and trees can suffer dieback or death in drought years, and that its potential vulnerability to drought may limit future use in parts of southern and eastern Britain. For best results it names deep, well-drained soils of pH 6 to 7.5. The Woodland Trust says the tree needs a humid atmosphere and well-drained soil and can be sensitive to winter frost.

Look

The Woodland Trust describes smooth, thin, grey bark, often with slight horizontal etchings, and reddish-brown, torpedo-shaped leaf buds on short stalks with a criss-cross pattern. Young leaves are lime green with silky hairs and darker when mature, 4 to 9 cm long, oval and pointed with a wavy edge, and trees often hold their leaves through winter. Flowers are catkins and pairs on the same tree in April and May, and the woody cup holds one or two beech nuts, called beechmast. It names hornbeam as the tree not to confuse it with, because hornbeam leaves have serrated margins.

Wildlife and wood

The Woodland Trust says beech woodland is shady, with a dense carpet of fallen leaves and husks that keeps most woodland plants out, and that rarer plants such as box, coralroot bittercress and red helleborine are associated with it. It names native truffle fungi, bearded tooth fungus, which relies on beech woods in the south of England, and hole-nesting birds and wood-boring insects in old trees. On wood, it lists fuel, furniture, cooking utensils, tool handles and sports equipment. EUFORGEN lists furniture, flooring, firewood and charcoal, and veneer, because of fine grain and durability, and calls beech one of the most important and widely cultivated trees in Europe. Forest Research calls it a timber tree famed for furniture.

Pests and diseases the sources name

Forest Research says beech is susceptible to a wide range of pests and diseases, including Phytophthora and the fungi Meripilus, Ganoderma and Armillaria, but that many are secondary issues in stressed trees. See the Armillaria root rot profile for the agency record of the last. The Woodland Trust names beech bark disease, caused by a combination of the scale insect Cryptococcus fagisuga and the canker fungus Nectria coccinea, and says severe infestations can kill affected trees. Its threats section also links Phytophthora ramorum, which has its own page, sudden oak death.

Both sources single out grey squirrels. Forest Research calls high vulnerability to bark stripping by grey squirrels the biggest threat to growing beech successfully, with the greatest risk between ages 10 and 50 years and after thinning, and says the species is highly palatable to all browsing mammals, with rabbits able to damage the lower stem of young trees. The Woodland Trust also calls it very vulnerable to bark stripping. Forest Research ends the entry with a TreeAlert report link for suspected cases.

Text on Forest Research is adapted from its tree species database entry and contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.