A healthy American beech is a "strikingly handsome" tree with tight, smooth and skin-like light gray bark. This slick bark is so unique, it becomes a major identifier of the species. Also, look for the muscular roots which often remind one of creature legs and arms. Beech bark has suffered the carver's knife through the ages. From Virgil to Daniel Boone, men have marked territory and carved the tree's bark with their initials.
Alfred Joyce Kilmer and His Memorial Forest
By Steve Nix, About.com
A dead and rotting American beech log is a typical sight in the Joyce Kilmer virgin forest. A virgin forest can be very beautiful but not necessarily healthy. A virgin forest can be consumed by the diseases of age. The Joyce Kilmer forest has its share of these downed and dead trees.
Prev
- Alfred Joyce Kilmer
- Kilmer's "Trees"
- The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
- The Little Santeetlah Creek Watershed
- A Joyce Kilmer Yellow Poplar
- The Joyce Kilmer Eastern Hemlock
- The Joyce Kilmer Sweet Birch
- The Joyce Kilmer American Chestnut
- The Joyce Kilmer Basswood
- The Joyce Kilmer American Beech
Suggested Reading
More Links
Explore Forestry
Must Reads
About.com Special Features
A Smarter Future
Tips that will help finance your education, excel in the classroom, and advance your career. More >
How to Ace the GRE
Being well prepared is the first step; here are more essential suggestions. More >
©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.
All rights reserved.