- A beech bears male and female flowers
- When is the beech flowering time?
- When does a beech flower for the first time?
- The flowers become fruit
Beech trees are not planted for their flowers, but for their foliage. The flowers are very inconspicuous. Beech blossoms can trigger allergies in sensitive people. Worth knowing about the blossom of the beech.
A beech does not flower until it is 20 to 30 years old
A beech bears male and female flowers
Beeches are unisexual and monoecious. This means that both male and female flowers are produced on a tree.
The female flowers grow in pairs in a four-valved sheath that forms into a hard cup over the course of the year. This is where the seeds, the beechnuts, ripen. The male flowers hang down in clusters.
The budding of the flowers begins at the same time as the budding of the leaves.
When is the beech flowering time?
After budding, it takes two to three weeks for flowering to begin. It starts at the end of April and lasts until May.
When does a beech flower for the first time?
Beeches flower for the first time when they are 20 to 30 years old. Germinable fruits do not develop until they are around 40 years old. If the beech is cut frequently, it will not bloom.
The flowers become fruit
In autumn, the fruits, the beechnuts, grow from pollinated flowers. The slightly poisonous nuts ripen in September and October.
Beeches do not flower abundantly every year. In some years the trees do not flower at all and no seeds grow either. Years with lots of flowers are referred to as mast years.
tips
Beech trees are pollinated by wind and insects. Squirrels, birds and mice reproduce. They take the fallen beechnuts to distant places where they germinate in the spring.