Fagus engleriana (19/09/2015, Kew Gardens, London)
Position: Full sun to dappled shade
Flowering period: Mid to late spring
Soil: Moist, well drained
Eventual Height: 25m
Eventual Spread: 25m
Hardiness: 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
Family: Fagaceae
Fagus engleriana is a large, upright, deciduous tree with a spreading to domed habit. Its mid green leaves are ovate to elliptic with an undulate margin, up to 11cm long and 5cm across. Its bark is grey/ brown and shallowly fissured. Its flowers are monoecious with the female being green and inconspicuous and the male in the form of catkins. Its fruit is a nut borne in green, spiked, ovoid capsules.
Fagus engleriana Leaf (19/09/2015, Kew Gardens, London)
Fagus engleriana, commonly known as Chinese Beech or Engler Beech, is native to central and east China. In its native habitat it grows in deciduous and mixed woodland.
The etymological root of the binomial name Fagus is derived from the old Latin for a ‘Beech Tree’, although some authorities derive the word from the Greek phago meaning ‘to eat’, in reference to the seeds being edible. Engleriana is named after Heinrich Gustav Adolph Engler (1844-1930), 20th century German botanist.
The landscape architect may find Fagus engleriana useful as a medium sized parkland specimen tree.
Fagus engleriana Bark (19/09/2015, Kew Gardens, London)
Ecologically, Fagus engleriana nuts are attractive so some mammals.
Fagus engleriana prefers moist, fertile, well-drained soils. It tolerates most pH of soil.
Fagus engleriana requires little maintenance.