American beech

American beech is an important species within the huge family of Fagaceae in the silvicultural composition of the natural hardwood forests of North America which include oaks and chestnut, but beech is not one of the most commercially available.

Latin Name

Fagus grandifolia

Other Common Names

N/A

American_Beech_big.jpg
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American beech trees grow widely across the eastern USA in mixed hardwood forests, although are concentrated in the central areas of the eastern States. American beech is different to European beech as the trees grow less tall and generally less straight and are frequently multi-stemmed in older stands.

FOREST GROWTH

Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) data shows U.S. beech growing stock is 348 million m3, 2.6% of total U.S. hardwood growing stock. U.S. beech is growing 4.5 million m3 per year while the harvest is 3.8 million m3 per year. The net volume (after harvest) is increasing 0.7 million m3 each year.

Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Delaware Florida Georgia Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming Volume of live trees on forest land, 1000 m³ 0 3.5K All data derives from The Forest Inventory and Analysis Database developed in 2001, a component of the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.Data was compiled by AHEC in May 2020 using the most recent state inventory available (2018 for most states).“Forest volume” refers to “Net volume of live trees on forest land" as defined by FIA (see glossary). FIA forest volume data is available for 49 U.S. states (Hawaii and Washington D.C. are omitted) with total commercially significant hardwood forest volume of 14.6 billionWith the 2008 Farm Bill, every US State was tasked to prepare a Forest Action Plan by 2010, reviewed in 2015, to include comprehensiveassessment of forest condition and a strategy for sustainable forestry. Further details are available from theNational Association of State Foresters
Back to whole mainland U.S. 0-20K 20K-40K 40K-60K 60K-80K 80K-100K 100K-120K > 120K Volume of live trees on forest land, 1000 m³ 0 200K
-15K -10K -5K 0 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -10K -9K -8K -7K -6K -5K -4K -3K -2K -1K 0 1K 2K 3K 4K 5K 6K 7K 8K 9K 10K GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -2000 -1750 -1500 -1250 -1000 -750 -500 -250 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ -300 -200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500 GROWTH AND REMOVALS, 1000 m³ Removals 0 Growth 0 Net growth 0
0 200K 400K 600K 800K 1M 1.2M FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 40K 80K 120K 160K 200K 240K 280K 320K 360K 400K 440K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K 100K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ 0 4K 8K 12K 16K 20K FOREST VOLUME, 1000 m³ Forest volume 0

LCA Tool

4.19
seconds
it takes 13.54 seconds to grow 1m³ of American beech
The replacement rate is calculated from total U.S. annual increment of the specified hardwood species derived from the U.S. Forest Service Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program and assumes that 2 m³ of logs is harvested to produce 1 m³ of lumber (i.e. 50% conversion efficiency). The rapid rate of replacement is due to the very large volume of hardwood trees in U.S. forest.
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Beech from the USA has limited availability as sawn lumber, especially in higher grades and thicker sizes. This is attributed partly to the fact that most parcels of mixed species logs do not contain sufficient beech to produce a full charge for kiln drying. Furthermore beech, which is rather difficult to dry, requires a particular kiln schedule and cannot easily be mixed with other species. For this reason availability is mainly from specialist producers who can also usually supply steamed beech. The lumber is normally sold unselected for colour and mainly in thicker specifications. Beech veneer is rarely available.

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American beech tends to be darker in colour and less consistent than European beech. The sapwood is almost white with a red tinge and the heartwood is light to dark reddish brown. The wood of beech is generally straight and close grained with uniform texture. It has medium bending and crushing strength, but is low in stiffness and shock resistance. The wood may exhibit brown mineral streaks in the heartwood which, under NHLA Grading Rules, are not considered a defect.

Mechanical Properties

Beech is heavy, hard and reasonably strong. It has high resistance to shock and is very suitable for steam bending.

  • 0.64

    Specific Gravity (12% M.C.)

    721 kg/m3

    Average Weight (12% M.C.)

    13.00%

    Average Volume Shrinkage (Green to 6% M.C.)

    102.736 MPa

    Modulus of Rupture

    11,859 MPa

    Modulus of Elasticity

    50.334 MPa

    Compressive strength (parallel to grain)

    5,782 N

    Hardness
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  • American beech works well with most hand and machine tools. It has good nailing and gluing properties and can be stained and polished to a good finish. The wood dries fast and tends to warp, split and is subject to surface checks when dry. It is prone to large shrinkage on drying and will move in humid conditions.

     
  • The wood is non-resistant to heartwood decay but is permeable for preservative treatment.
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Beech is considered suitable where hardness and hardwearing properties may be essential. It is used in furniture, doors, flooring and panelling. It has specialist applications including tool and brush handles as it is easy to turn. Having no smell or taste, it is suitable for food containers.

Tool Handles
Flooring
Furniture
Doors
Panelling
Turning