Beeches reproduce themselves through their fruit, the beechnuts. They are slightly poisonous but can be eaten roasted. The harvest is not plentiful every year. What you should know about the fruit of the beech.

Raw beechnuts are slightly poisonous

This is what beechnuts look like

  • capsule fruit
  • two, sometimes more, seeds (beech nuts)
  • Brown
  • about 2 cm long

The fruit of the beechnut is a nut called beechnut. They consist of a rough capsule of four lobes, in which usually two, occasionally more, seeds grow. The seeds are triangular and have a brown shell.

The capsule is initially open, but closes and hardens after fertilization. In order to harvest beechnuts, the capsule must be opened. When they fall, the fruit cups jump up on their own and release the seeds.

In the forest, propagation takes place via squirrels and birds, which take the seeds to more distant places.

At what age do fruits ripen on beeches?

Young beeches do not yet bear fruit. A beech does not flower until it is about 20 years old. Fruit, in which seeds ripen, develops only at the age of 40 to 80 years.

A beech tree does not bear beechnuts every year

A special feature of the beech is the fact that it does not produce a rich harvest every year. Usually every five to eight years, so many beechnuts grow on the tree that the ground is later completely covered. These years are called fattening years because in the past the pigs could actually be fattened with the beechnuts.

In the following years, the harvest is much smaller. Sometimes no fruit grows on the tree.

The fruits of the beech are slightly poisonous

Beechnuts contain the active ingredient fagin, which causes nausea when eaten. Horses, dogs and cats are also not allowed to eat large amounts of beechnuts. Birds, forest animals and pigs, on the other hand, tolerate the fruits.

The toxin is neutralized by heating, primarily by roasting. The beechnuts can then be eaten without hesitation.

Use of beechnuts in the kitchen

Beechnuts have always enriched people's diets in times of need. The roasted seeds were ground into flour or used as a coffee substitute.

Roasted, the beechnut goes well with autumnal salads or as a substitute for other nuts.

Propagating beeches by seed

Beeches are quite easy to propagate from seeds. Once you've collected beechnuts, place them in a water bath and discard any fruit that floats. The other fruits are viable.

Beechnuts must be stratified. This means that the inhibition of germination by cold must be overcome. This happens either directly in the ground during the winter or by storing the fruit in the refrigerator for several weeks.

tips

Beechnuts contain a lot of oil. They used to be squeezed out and the liquid obtained used as lamp oil. In times of need, beech oil was also used for cooking.

Category:

Trees