Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Edible Wild Plants/Beech Nuts

Beech Nut


Description: The Beech is a deciduous tree growing to 20-35 m tall, with smooth silvery-gray bark. The leaves are dark green, simple and sparsely-toothed with small teeth, 6-12 cm long (rarely 15 cm), with a short petiole. The winter twigs are distinctive among North American trees, being long and slender (15-20 mm by 2-3 mm) with two rows of overlapping scales on the buds.

Where found: The American Beech is a species of beech native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States.

Availability: Fall

Use: The nuts can be eaten raw.